Consider Me Drafted
by AliceSwift
Summary: Edward has been drafted during the Vietnam war. Will he be able to keep his promises to Bella? Will Jake be enough to fill the hole that Edward left? What happens when yet another person close to her is dragged of to fight?Who will survive it? AH.E/B.R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello fellow writers and readers, this is my third new story this week. I have set a goal for myself. Right now it's 11:45, so ovbiously I'm not going to be bale to add four quality chapters by midnight, but I promise and swear to each and everyone of my readers that I will have four more stories posted by three this morning. I also promise to have all of my stories updated by 5:00 and if I'm in the mood to I migth ad d two additional stories for kicks. Since I will be updating TwiTopics I will be reveiwing New Moon so look out for that one. I'll post what I'm doing on my twitter so follow me, my name's AliceSwift. So here goes this new one. This takes place in the veitnam war, which took place in between 1965 and 1975. Or so says Yahoo Answers.**

**PLT!**

~AliceSwift

**

* * *

**

"So Bella, do yo think we'll win tonight?" Alice asked, she was sitting beside me, we were at lunch.

"Yes I think so, we haven't loss a game yet." She laughed and then turned back to her conversation with my brother, Emmett.

I didn't see how she could be so positive. Her fiance, Jasper, had been drafted over four months ago back at the begining of the school year, it was november. Jasper hadn't bruned his draft card, like countless other football players at my table had. Emmett, Tyler Crowley, Mike Newton. The one person at my table who hadn't was actually the one who was currently holdin my hand. Edward Cullen. He didn't go to the bond fires with the other guys. He was tempted to, but then Alice talked some sense into him. I think he realized that they really needed people to fight for our country, and if he was drafted than he would be idolized by the entire country, even if they didn't know his name. He had behaved better than my brother when Jasper was drafted at the end of summer. I think that's why he was so much more outrageous about the situation. I knew that Edward and Jasper were close but Emmett and Jasper were closer. I think the day he left was the madest I've seen Emmett in a long time. And by a long time it's pretty much as long as I can remember.

I'm pretty sure that's why he had joined football, I mean he had played as a kid but never in a leauge or anything. I think it really helped him put his anger into something. Edward followed is lead and when they both made the team I was enthused enough to try out for the cheerleading sqaud. Alice and Rosalie were already trying to convince me to and I eventually was going to give in, so I decided to do so before they dragged me into practices. It was actually alot more fun than I had expected, especailly since Edward was an amazing quaterback and our team hadn't lost a single game this season. This would be the first time in Forks High history that we had a winning football team. My table of jocks and cheerleaders were super enthused about the game. It was the second to last game we could play, and if we won than that meant next week it would be us against the last team in the state, which if we beat them then our team would be best in the state. Pretty exciting if you ask me.

The bell rang, dismissing us to our next class. I threw away what was left of my lunch then put the plastic tray on top of a huge pile that was on a table next to the trash can. I grabbed my books then walked to my next class with Alice.

The rest of the day dragged and went too slow. Deep down I think I knew that we would win, but I think I had convinced myself that I was nervous. After the final bell I went to my locker and got my books, then left for practice. We planned what cheers we would do for half time and then rehearsed them for the last hour. We also made signs for the boys saying good luck, like they needed it. I met up with Edward out front after practice, football and cheer let out at the same time so each day he walked me home. After giving him a kiss goodbye I walked inside and hung up my coat. I said a qucik hello to Charlie before taking my bags to the kitchen table. I go ou tmy history homeowork and dived into ancient rome. I was on my last page of that subject when Alice phoned.

"Hello?" I asked.

"So has Edward asked you to the dance yet?" she said peppily.

"What dance?"

"The winter one. I'll be here watching Lucy and Cynthia but I think you guys should go together, it would be cute." Lucy and Cynthia were her younger sisters. After her parents passed away, she was really the only one who could watch them.

"He hasn't asked me yet to answer your question, but does he really have to? I mean if I was going it would obviously be with him."

"Yes he has to ask. If he just showed up at your house two weeks from now and said that he was taking you, would you be ready to go to the high school?"

"Well no, of course not." she was so ridiculous sometimes.

"That's why he has to ask."

"I see your point. I'll mention it to him, okay?"

"Great. So are you going to the diner before the game?"

"Probably. Did you get someone to watch your sisters?"

"Yes, our neighbors agreed to wacth them whenever I needed them to."

"Didn't they just move in?" I asked flipping the page in my text books, writing down the final answer, then shutting the book and putting it in my finished pile.

"Yes, but they're eldery. They've had kids and they have two grandchildren living eith them right now. One's a fourteen yearold boy, Cynthia's age and the other is only a few months old. Lucy's only four so compared to their youngest she won't seem that bad."

"You're jsut going to trust two random strangers with your siblings?"

"Yes, I don't really care. I've been watching, not to mention paying for them, since Cynthia was ten. It was sad and all at first but it's been four years and I'm not sure how much longer I can do this. I need a break and tonight I'm finally going to get it."

"Well, I could watch the kids, and I'm sure Edward wouldn't mind. Just let us know, I've told you that before."

"Yeah but that's weird. I know you guys and I don't want to get in the way."

"No, we're helping out sometime, call me if you need me."

"Okay, thanks. Oh, I have to go. The mail man's here. I'll call ou back if I get anything from Jasper."

"Okay, thanks."

"Sure, bye."

"Goodbye." I hung up the phone and then jumped into my English homework.

* * *

Edward knocked on my door a few hours later. I opened the door and there he stood. He was wearing his under armor, it strechted across his chest and hugged his muscles. All the equipment was at the school, along with the teams ersey's. He had explained to me that they all keep them in a pile in the locker room. Something about supersitions that I would never understand.

"Are you ready?" he asked. I picked up my pom poms by the door and nodded.

"Bye dad!' I yelled into the house. I shut the door behind me.

"So do you think we'll win?" I asked and looked up at him. The street lightes were just coming on.

"I think so. You know this is all you rfualt right?"

"What?" I asked concerned.

"This whole winnig thing, I was really hoping for a losing team this year. But no, you just had to go and inspire me to do well."

"Well sorry about that. I didn't reliaze what a huge influence I had on you."

"Well you should be." We met eyes and instantly burst out into laughter.

"Seriously, I think we have a pretty good chance."

"Yeah," he took my hand. "Me too. We'd have a better chance if we had Jasper though. He was an amazing player last year."

"He was."

"When did Alice say he was coming home?"

"I think in Januray."

"It'll be good to see him again."

"It will be." I agreed as we walked into the diner. I heard a bunch of noise in the back and knew that's where we would be sitting.

"Well if it isn't the two love birds." Rosalie laughed, she was sitting in Emmett's lap. She took a sip of her soda as she spoke.

"Well look who's talking." I said and Mike scooted over so Edwward and I could get in.

"Is Alice here yet?" I asked.

"No, I haven't seen her."

"I hope she'll make it. This would be the third game this season." Tyer said, he obviously liked Alice, but he was nice enough not to do that to her.

"Yeah, it's just been so stressful though, with Cynthia just starting high school, and Lucy turning one Alice barely has anytime to herlsef. I mean shes alreayd working two jobs, she said she might have to add a third."

"That would be awful, she's stretching herself way too thin." Jessica commented. She was sitting by Mike, they had an on-off relationship and I think they were in that _do I really like her/him again? _phase.

"It's what she need to do."

"What who needs to do?" I heard the voice that we were just speaking of chrip behind me.

"Alice! I thought you weren't going to make it." I exclaimed.

"Well I had to get Lucy and Cytnhia ready, then myself, plus Jasper sent a letter which I ridicuoulsy read about twenty thousand times, then I decided to write back then even though I have the rest of the night after the game to do so. Thanks for waiting."

"Oh no, we just got here too, but are we ready to go?" I asked.

"I think so." Emmett said. We all walked to the game together. Jessica, Rose, Alice and I went over cheers while te guys disscussed different plays and old rivalries from years past with the team we were playing tonight.

We got to the high school and I gave Edward a good luck kiss. They all walkd into the school to get ready and us girls walked towards the opening gate. One look at the other team and I knew we would win.

Though wehn we did I still acted shocked and surprised. It was in the last seconds of the game that Edward caught the ball and ran towards the end of the feild to score. The crowd was on their feet and the squad was jumping up and down. The other team was throwing their helmets on the ground and knocking things over like that would help their anger.

Edward came up and twirled me around.

"We won!" he screamed.

"It was my fault remember?" I told him and he laughed. He gave me a kiss and then swung me around again.

* * *

That night I got home and was considering calling Edward when there was a _clink _sound on my window. I ignored it and when back to my journal. There were three more then a pause, then two more.

"Bella." I heard someone say quietly. I ran over to open the window and saw Edward looking up at me from down below.

"What?' I whispered down with a laugh.

"Come for a walk with me?"

"Okay." I slipped on a pair of shoes and then climbed out my window. I was about half way down when I slipped. I had just opened my mouth to yell when Edward's arms caught me in a cradle posision.

"Thanks for cathing me.

"Thanks for slipping." he said and put me down. I took his hand and we started walking.

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know, I thought that we would go to the beach, but if you would rather-"

"No, I like the beach." I said. Some how we managed to talk the enitre way there. I thought we would run out of things to say when we actually got to the beach, but we didn't. I guess we never really got sick of eachother, never stopped talking with one another.

"So how do think Alice will react when Jasper comes back?" he asked.

"Oh she won't let us near him. She'll be totally possesive." I said sitting on the sand, he took my handand sat down next to me.

"I think she deserves it."

"Alice deserves alot of things she doesn't get, some things she never will." I sighed and leaned back, he followed my lead.

"I'm worried about her." he turned and looked at me.

"Me too, I don't think she won't be able to handel it when he leaves again."

"Alice is alot of things, strong is one of them. Her parents died, leaving her with a ten and three month old to take care of at fourteen. She's always relied on Jasper and yet even when he's not here she manages to get Lucy to preschool, give Cynthia great advice and still make her self presentable for school and work. Then there's cheerleading, her grades are near perfect, as are Cynthia's, she might barely be getting by on money but when you think about it she has alot more going on than I know I could ever handle. I think that when Jasper leaves she'll be sad, but she'll know she has to keep going...or else things will really fall apart."

"You make so much sense sometimes." I said sincerely and sighed. "I know I couldn't handle you leaving."

"Me either. Being away from you for months on end. Only seeing you for two weeks in between. I'd die."

"Don't even go there. I've had night mares about you being drafted and I can't even bare the thougt of losing you, it's impossile to me how Alice can handle that reality."

"Well I can assure you it won't happen anytime soon." he rubbed his thum along my cheek and it wasn't until then I realized I was crying.

"You can't assure me anything, our country's at war and you know what could happen."

"Yes but really the chance that me out of thousands is going to be picked."

"It happened to Jasper." I said coldly.

He sat up as did I, he took my hands. "Bella Swan, I, Edward Cullen, swear to you that I will never leave, if the worse happens to me you will always be my one and only true love. I swear to never ever lose you no matter what will happen. If for some reason I leave, or for some reason you leave, I swear to you that we will never lose touch. Because I love you, and I can't even bare the thought of losing you." I looked in his eyes and saw that he reallt truly meant it. I took his face in my hands and kissed him, hearing nothing but the waves in the backround. I held his lips to mine for a long second before letting him go and smiling.

"Bet you can't catch me." I teased and hoped up heading for the water.

"Bet I can!" he yelled from behind me and I knew he was close.

"No!" I yelled as my feet hit the water and he took me up in his arms. I struggled to get out of his grasp but nothing worked. He finally tossed me behind him, me going deeper in the water. I was completely soaked when I stood up and he laughed at me.

"You think this is funny?" he nodded, continuing to smile and laugh. I wlaked towards him and he tried to back up but couldn't reach the sand fast enough. I latched onto his back and pulled him under neath with me. When I came up I saw him sitting in the water.

"I love you." he said with a smile and a slight laugh.

"I love you too." I took his hand and we spent the rest of the night at the beach.

* * *

The next week at school was the week before break, it was Friday the last game was tonight and if we won we went to play-offs. Charlie was actually coming to this one, the first one during the season. It wasn't like I minded him coming, in fact I usually convinced him out of it. I could cheer in front of hundreds of people, but Charlie sitting in the crowd was something else entirely. Of course by the time we first scored I had fogotten and was too busy cheering the team on.

It was actually a prettty good game, we didn't just crush them like we usually did. The guys had to try to get past them this game, unlike the last the one before that one and every other game the entire season where they just jogged down the feild with the ball. Thing actually looked pretty shady for us by the ned of the third quater, but we got ahead by two touchdowns, the other team scored three times, putting them ahead by one for the end of the fourth. We scored once and now it was tied. It had also started raingin about half way through the game, making the sky even darker and the feild evern slipperier.

It was the last ten seconds of the game and I got a really intense feeling right before the clock started. I looked for his number, 74, I found the blue numbers printed across the back of his jersey. I smiled at him and he smiled back. The whistle blew and then the ball was thrown. It was taken down the feild and as the time stopped we racked up another seven points.

We won. We were going to playoffs.

I stoodin awe as the players ran off the feild to be congradualted by friends and family waiting in the stand. I stared at the scrore board then looked down at the feild. Edward ran towards me and swooped me up like he did last week, this time holding me in his arms, his unbreakable grasp conforting. In that moment I never wanted him to let go, but he set me down as Charlie came to congradulate us. He held my hand as we walked out to the school.

* * *

It was about ten minutes after getting home that there was a knock on my door. Emmett and Charlie had both collapsed in bed when we got home, I was up doing some extra credit. I didn't think that it could have been him, but it was and his news killed any excitment that was flowing through my veins.

"Edward?" I gasped as I swung the door open. The rain had only gotten worse and he was completely drenched, he panted as if he had been running. I wondered why he hadn't phoned.

"Bella. I've been drafted." he said and his face had a painful expression on it.

In that moments I could feel anything, it wasn't until a few seconds later that I felt pain and tears behind my eyes.

"Would you like to come in?" I asked.

______________-

**Okay I know I really shoudn't write about things that I don't know the first thing about, so if that football section was a little off then please just ignore it. Follow me on Twitter, I'm AliceSwift. New Stories to come later tonight and really really early tomorrow morning.**

**See you next time.**

**PLT!**

~AliceSwift.


	2. Chapter 2

**Consider Me Drafted chapter two...**

**PLT!**

**~AliceSwift**

**

* * *

**

Edward and I were lying on my bed together. His arms were around me, cradled in his chest, my back to him. Our intertwined hands were infront of me and his hand was stroking my hair. It was silent except for our whispering and murmuring to each other. I couldn't believe how much pain those murmurs brought to me.

"So when do you leave?" I asked in a small voice, not sure if I wanted to know our curent relationship's experation date or not.

"In two weeks." I closed my eyes and tried to hold back tears.

"That soon." I said, barely even hearing myself.

"Yes, I couldn't believe it either."

I couldn't process all the thoughts that were running through my head at the moment. They all ran together in strings of pain and emotion. Swirled around my brain and made their way down to my heart. Making me hurt even more than I already was. Then one thought became tragically clear to me.

This was real.

I was really sitting here with Edward Cullen, my Edward Cullen and he was telling me that he had been drafted. This wasn't something that we were hearing about. This was something that was happening to us.

"This- this can't happen." I said as tears came spilling over. He must have heard it in my voice because his arms tightened around me. I knew he couldn't stand it when I cried. He would comfort me but he didn't want me to be in any pain period. He turned me to face him.

"Bella listen, no matter what happens, I'll still keep my promises to you. I honestly can't dream up a life without you and I can't remember what my life was like before you were in it. Bella, I love you and now more than ever I need you to understand that."

"I love you too." I told him, not knowing what else to say. I felt the same way about him and I knew that he knew that, I also knew that he knew that I couldn't take much more of this. "Just promise me one more thing?"

"Of course." he said stroking my cheek. I put my hand over his and our fingers slowly intertwined.

"Tell me that we'll spend as much time together as possible before you have to go. If these are my last two weeks with you then I want them to have as much you in them as possible." he smiled.

"I want the same." he kissed me softly on the lips and then looked into my eyes. After a minute or two of looking into eachother's souls he shook his head, taking himself out of his thoughts. "You should get some sleep." he played idly with my hair for a moment before moving his hand away from my face, wrapping his arms around me, and closing his eyes. I turned over and closed my eyes, trying to figure out how I could get some sleep with all of this worry in me.

"Goodnight Bella." he whispered in my ear with a slight laugh in his voice.

"Goodnight Edward." I whispered back with a smile.

Right now I was in Edward's arms. He was here with me for right now. That was all that mattered.

* * *

The next morning I woke up to sunlight streaming through my windows. It took a moment of looking around the room to figure out what had happened last night. Edward had been drafted and I had been heartbroken, but today was Saturday and we had all day together. I rolled over to find Edward still asleep next to me. I ran my fingers through his already messy, bronze hair and then kissed him. He woke up when I pulled away.

"Good morning." I said, expecting my voice to be hoarse and sick sounding, but to my pleasant surprise it wasn't.

"Good morning." he smiled and rolled his eyes.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"You're cute in the morning." he said and kissed the tip of my nose. I laughed and his smile almost made my heart stop.

"I don't want to do anything today." he said and I nodded.

"Me either."

"We should just stay like this, all day. Here together and just talk." he said as if reading my mind. That was exactly what I wanted. Just to spend time with him and not have the pressure of being with people or in public, just being able to be ourselves with each other.

"I think so too."

"But first..." he flipped the covers off of himself and then got up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" I giggled.

"I'll be right back just stay here." he closed the door silently behind him and I laughed again. I turned over onto my side and layed down smiling.

* * *

Awhile later he came back with a stack of pancakes. We split it and talked while we ate.

At times I even forgot. I forgot that I would only have this time with him for two more weeks before he would be torn away from me and sent off to fight. But it was always there. He would laugh and I would think about the long periods of time I would have to bare without hearing the beautiful sound, he would smile and I wold think about how many months I would have to go without seeing him, he would hold me in his arms and I would think about the length of time I would have to go without his embrace.

He was currently leaning against the wall, me in his lap, his arms around my shoulders. My head rested up on his shoulder and he would kiss my head and whisper in my ear and tell me that he loved me. What surprised me is that we didn't talk about his leaving, we talked about things we normally would. Like school and our friends and other subjects that we would have anyway.

"I know she's insane but I love her as a teahcer." I said, standing up for Ms. Griffieth, my enthusiastic history teacher.

"But you never think she's too crazy?" he eyed me.

"No, just the right amount of crazy to teach." I smiled and he kissed the top of my head for what seemed like the millionth time. The thing was that it never got old. I never got tired of him loving me.

"What am I going to do with out you Bella?" he stoked my hair softly.

"I don't know."

"Will you wait for me?" he asked and sounded sincere.

"Of course, it's you I'm worried about." I said, listening to his heart beat under his tee shirt.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean that there are many other girls out there, and so many of them have so much more to offer you than I could. You could fall in love with some nurse who could take care of you when you got hurt, or someone who can cook, or someone with a gorgeous face and pretty hair that you meet somewhere along the way." I played with my fingernails as I spoke to him, he took longer than I though he would to answer.

"Bella, do you think I would do that to you? Do you think that some girl I'll meet could ever replace what you give my heart?"

"I'm not worried about you going off with them, I'm worried about them intoxicating you. It's very easy to become confused and emotional when your out there, at least it is for Jasper. I don;t wan them taking advantage of you and you falling under their spell."

"But that'll never happen, because the only thing Ill be thinking about out there is you. You and only you. You're the only thing on my mind half the time anyway." This made me happy. To know that when he thought of me he thought of me as something more than just his girlfriend like I had been to other boys before him. I was a place in his heart.

"The same with you." I said with a smile and my heart rate picking up.

"Bella, I love you more than my own life. I'd give anything to stay with you, but right now they need me. I have to go."

"I know. I know." I said slowly.

I knew that this was stupid. To be thinking about myself instead of what he would be going through, but I couldn't help but feel bad. He was heading off to fight and I was backing down. Not an equal equation. I had to be strong. For Edward.

* * *

**There it is. Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear from you, and I'll try to respond to your review ASAP. Also give me some ideas on where you think the story should go or will go. You never know maybe they'll end up somewhere in here. Follow me on Twitter and I'll definetly mention you next chapter.**

**PLT!**

**~AliceSwift**


	3. Chapter 3: Heart Years

**Hey Consider Me Drafted readers, it's been a long while since I've updated so here's a recap.**

**Bella and Edward are the perfect couple. She's a cheerleader and he's the quarter back of the high school football team. They're all together a happy pair. Edward one night promises her that no matter what, no matter who gets drafted in war, no matter who has to leave, and no matter what will ever hurt their relationship he will always be hers and she will always be his. They know what happens when someone gets drafted to fight. One of Bella's close friends, and her best friend Alice's fiance`, Jasper, had been drafted only four months earlier. It seems impossible to her that two people so dear to her heart could be drafted, but it happens. Edward comes to her door one night and tells her that he's been drafted. He leaves in two weeks. With the news comes more promises. The one from the night before; that Edward will always love Bella, that every promise that had ever been made and any that will be made will be kept no matter what, and that for the next to weeks Edward will spend as much time with her as possible. Because when that two weeks is up, he's going ot be gone. **

**Meanwhile, Alice is still stretching herself too thin. When she was fourteen her parents died, leaving her with her two younger sister's Cynthia and Lucy to take care of and look after. She's always somewhat relied on Jasper to help her out when she needed it, but with him gone to war she's all alone. She's been working two jobs and might have to add a third to keep the bills in order. Her grades, as well as Cynthia's, who is now fourteen, are nearly perfect. She also has cheerleading and multiple student council responsibilities. She also has to be a parent to her sisters, meaning giving boy advice and taking them to places that they need to go. Through all of this she is still hurting from Jasper's departure and still is only eighteen.**

**Thanks for clicking on my story and I hope you enjoy the chapter**

**Thank you so much!**

**PLT!**

**~AliceSwift**

**"Half of my heart is a shot gun wedding to a bride with a paper ring."**

**~Half Of My Heart.**

**John Mayer.  
**

**

* * *

**

The second day was Sunday. Our families went to church together that morning. Charlie had tried to comfort me about the situation but he couldn't do much really.

"Bella, just try to think of what he's going through." he said as we walked into the house after service.

"I have, he's told me what's going through his head and it's pretty similar to what's going through mine. We're going to be without each other and that's just it. There's nothing that either of us can do about it. I can't stop the government from taking him away and neither can he." I said, throwing my bag down by the door and running upstairs, though I only made it half way when he called me back down.

"Hey, this isn't my fault Bella, and I don't want you yelling at me about how terrible it is. Now come back down here and talk to me. Right now." he said sternly. Not quite yelling but not just a normal tone of voice was used with me when I got snappy, or angry and took it out on him, the same tone was used just then.

I reluctantly made my way back down the stairs and to the couch. I waited until he sat down, then waited for him to say something. I had wanted to end the conversation, he had dragged me back into it. He could talk first.

"Bells, talk to me. I want to know what's going through your head. I want to understand what you're going through too. Don't leave me in the dark." he begged. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"I don't want him to go dad." I said coldly. Not sure where he was wanting me to take this conversation.

"Well I'm not blind, I can see that. I want to know why. You're going to see him on leave, the guy loves you he won't be dragged away when he comes back and-"

"What if he doesn't?" I said and my brows quickly became one line through my frustration. "What if next Saturday is the last night I'll ever see him? Ever?"

"So what if it is? You're eighteen, Edward's no more than a high school romance, and you'll cry and you'll hurt but at some point, even if it's when you're an old wrinkly woman, you'll realize that it's time to move on." he said with a smile. The expression on his face I suppose was to make me feel stupid. Make me blush and agree with him. But if I did that I would be nothing more than a little girl again. I would feel stupid as I had many times before in my childhood after my mom died and I would be seen as nothing more than a naive child again.

"In the meantime?" I asked, not correcting him, he had refused to believe in my love for Edward.

"I'm not sure." he said and looked down, he seemed to be backing away from his previous, bold statement.

I had processed it then. His words from just a few moments ago and realized something. "So is that how you feel about mom then?" I asked, standing up, furious with him. "You don't care that she's gone. You're just waiting for time to come and heal the hurt, or is your heart so cold that it's already healed again?"

He looked at me, as if he was trying to see what I was seeing. "Bella your mother and I had much more than you and Edward do so-"

"But you two did also just start off as a high school fling right? I mean marriages blossom from somewhere."

"Yes, but when your mother died I had much more love for her-"

"How? How do you know that my heart just can't love more than yours? Maybe I've loved Edward longer and much more in heart years than you did mom her entire life."

"Heart years?"

"Yes. Heart years. Amounts of time measured by how much one's heart can love." I explained, knowing he would laugh.

He did. Then he looked at me and I think for the first time since the topic of Edward's being drafted was being talked about, he saw why I was so upset.

"Bella, listen. I know that you're upset, and I'll be honest I'm not quite sure how to help you. But things, eventually, in a way, will be alright."

"Yeah, eventually." I said and picked up my bag that was by the door. I walked upstairs and started writing in my journal.

Edward's family was coming in today and he would be spending the rest of the day with them. I couldn't be mad at him for that, they were just as heartbroken as the next person, but I still missed him.

What scared me, was the fact that this loneliness that I was feeling right now was just the smallest taste of what I would have to go through during the long months Edward was away.

* * *

After church I went back to my house. My mom had informed me earlier that most of our family was coming in to say goodbye to me before I was taken away. In a way I was happy that it was happening the week before I had to leave. That way, I would be able to spend the rest of the time with Bella.

A few hours later my entire family was there. Cousins, and aunts and uncles and grandparents had all come to say their farewells. We all just sat around. A few discussed my going away, others things completely unrelated. My mom served lunch and we all sat down around the huge table that took up almost the whole room.

Pretty soon the day turned into evening and the evening turned into night. It all passed by in a blur. I wondered if that's what it would feel like when I left for war. If when I got there things would just go by in large lulls of speed, or if everything would be clearer, sharper with my fear.

I made my way through the crowd of people. Young, old, fresh faced, wrinkled skinned. Running, sitting, laughing, frowning. Brown haired, blonds, perfect, flawed. Different types of people all coming from the same bloodline, or something close to it. It seemed impossible to me that there were people on the other side of the world who were even more different from those in front of me right now.

I hated it here. In this small room, with too many people, too many voices floating through the air and carrying loudly over the other chatters. It was too centered, everything reminded me of war. Everything reminded me of the fears that I had and the tragic things that could happen.

I tried to focus my thoughts on something else.

Like most times my thoughts wandered to Bella and I smiled. I wish she was here, I wondered if I phoned her if she would come and talk to me. When I was with her I tended to forget about all the things that were wrong. I forgot about all my problems and my life was care free as it was before I found out.

"Hi Edward." my little cousin, Gwen, came and sat down beside me.

"Hey, Gwen what's up?" I asked as she adjusted herself on the couch beside me.

"Eh, all the adults seem sad. I think it's boring." she said, and swept her small hands over her round face to push her curls out of her green eyes.

"You think it's boring do you?" she nodded. "Well do you know what they're talking about?" I asked and she shook her head.

"No, I tried to ask, I asked four different people five different times and no one will answer me." she complained and stuck her lip out in a pout face.

"What did they say when you asked them?"

"They said that I was too young to understand." she rolled her eyes.

Classic. We had talked about age and how most people just assumed you were ignorant because of your age many times. It was true. If you were young then people wouldn't tell you things. Sometimes because they thought you couldn't handle it, they honestly think you couldn't understand or they didn't feel like explaining it to you. People say that our generation is ruining our country, but the people saying that are the same people who ignore our questions.

"Typical." I said and she agreed with a smile

"Will you explain it to me at least?" she asked, her eyes honest.

"Well, you know the war right?"

"Yeah." she said excitedly. She always got really excited at the mention of world news.

"Well, I'm going away to it, I got drafted."

"What's drafted?"

"It's where the government sends you a letter saying that you have to go away to the war." I explained briefly.

"That's not so bad." she said with a shrug.

"No?" she shook her head. "Why not?"

"Because, the whole country sees you as a hero. We talk about how great the soldiers are all the time. The teachers tell me that we should go home and pray for them, because they're amazing. With people seeing you like that how can it be so bad?"

That was how everyone saw it. We had talked about it in school many times. How the people who served were great, how lucky we were that they would do that for us. I only knew a small part of what the reality of war was when Jasper was taken away. We realized then when some people go away, it's not voluntary.

"But when you go away to war, Gwen, people want to kill you. They don't want you to live. I could die." I told her and she looked as if she was only slightly phased by the statement.

"Yeah, but it would be a noble death." she said. Alot of people, if they _just _took the time to listen to what she had to say, would be amazed by what she said. She said things that were so far beyond her years that sometimes she told me things that I would've never realized ever if I hadn't talked to her. I had spoken with her so many different times and still she never seized to amaze me. I would miss that when I left.

"If you die fighting for your country Edward, then why is dying so bad?" she asked and immediately Bella's face came into my head.

"I would never see any of my family or friends again." I said, thinking too deeply about this.

"It's a girl. Bella's her name right, you told me about her one time." I nodded, my lips in a tight line.

"Yeah, that's her. Bella." I said and smiled at the mention of her name.

"Well, you'll see her, if you don't die. On leave right? That's what they call it." I nodded.

"But that's not what I'm worried about." I told her, feeling like she was therapist rather than my cousin.

"What are you worried about then?"

"Well.." I said reluctant. This was something private, and though I wanted to expose Gwen to as much knowledge as possible, I wasn't sure if I wanted her to know this.

"You love her right?" she asked, one small eyebrow raised on her smooth forehead.

"Yes, but-"

"And she loves you?"

"Yes, but Gwen I-"

"And you want to stay with her forever?"

"Yes and-"

"And you trust her?"

"Of course but-"

"Then what's the problem?" she demanded, eyes wide.

"What if someone steals her away?" I spat out.

"What do you mean steals her?" she asked looking honestly confused.

"I mean what if some great guy of her dreams comes and sweeps her off her feet. What if she needs me when I'm away? I won't be there, he will be. When she gets exciting news, she'll tell him first, I won't hear it. When she feels bad, she'll cry on his shoulder, not mine. When she needs someone to tell her things will be okay, he'll be the one whispering in her ear, not me. What if he decides that he's in love? What if he confesses his feelings and she realizes she feels the same? Then he'll propose to her and she'll say yes then I'll be invited to see my love be stolen from me at their wedding. Then every time I see them I'll remember what we had and I'll remember that I lost her because of some stupid war." I said quickly.

"You have a really active imagination."

"Thanks I think." I said and she smiled.

"So what are you going to do about it? I mean, prevent some guy from stealing her away? I mean you said you trusted her."

"Yeah, but if I'm gone long enough she can't help but forget about me and what we have."

"Then it sounds like to me you have to either trust she'll remember you or marry her."

Marriage. When I thought about who I would marry, of course Bella came to mind. I hoped that when she thought about who _she _would marry I was the one who came to her thoughts. It almost surprised me that we hadn't talked about marriage. We had known each other for almost our entire lives. We had started dating when we were in junior high. That's almost seven years that we've loved no one but each other. Why was I so nervous about proposing? Why hadn't I already? Would she say yes? Were we still too young?

"_Are_ you going to marry her?" she asked with a smile.

"I don't know." I said with a short, quiet laugh.

"Why not?"

"What if she says no? What if we're still too young? What if she doesn't love me as much as I love her?" I asked, my heart pounding.

"You trust her right?" she said with a tone in her voice that said she was looking for clarification.

"Yes." I rolled my eyes, a little stressed out about how I was taking relationship advice from a four year old.

"Then there's only one way to find out the answers to your questions." she paused. "Ask her." she smiled. "Ask her and tell her everything that you just told me. Tell her about the fears you have and the concerns about your relationship but tell her that no matter what happens you'll be there for her because you love her more than anything. Because I can tell that you do. And if she has half the love for you that you do for her, she'll say yes. So ask her."

"Gwen!" a child called form the corner.

"Ugh." she rolled her eyes.

"Found you." a small boy who I didn't recognize came up and tagged her then ran off.

"I've been hiding for a half hour now. Hide in plain sight and you're harder to find is what I've learned. He'll hide in the bathtub and I'll find him, then when it's his turn I 'll sit back down here on the couch." she smiled and started to get up.

"Hey Gwen." I said and she turned around, off the couch now.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"Let me know what she says okay?" she smiled and I nodded before she ran off.

I knew that if I sat here and thought about it anymore that I wouldn't go.

I got up off the couch and ran out of the house. I ran down the street and across three blocks to get to her house. I sprinted three driveways and then walked up to her door. I knocked, breathing heavily and didn't stop to think about what I was doing.

"Edward?" Charlie asked with a smile.

"Mr. Swan, sorry for bothering you, but is Bella here?" I asked.

"Um, no she went to Alice's but she should be back soon. Why don't you come in and have a seat until she gets back." he said and stood aside so I could enter.

"Sure, thank you." I said as he closed the door behind me.

"So what brings you by so late?" he asked and sat down beside me on his couch.

"Well, I was going to ask Bella something." I said nervously. I hadn't thought about asking Charlie for Bella's hand. I always assumed someday I would, but not just now when I decided to be so bold to come over and propose.

"Ask Bella what?" his voice was stern though he wore a smile on his face.

I bet I could go back. I could back out of this, tell him I had to ask her something about school tomorrow, or that I left my jacket over here on Saturday or something. I could do this in a much more sophisticated manner when I had this thought out better tomorrow. But then would I really come back? Would I come back and ask to marry his daughter? Or would I back out of it? That was the whole point of the 'right now' right? So that couldn't back down. So that I had to do this. I had to. Right now.

I quickly thought out something in my head, quick enough that I answered in a reasonable amount of time.

"Mr. Swan, I wanted to ask Bella for her hand in marriage. I love her, and I value her more than I value my own life. I would never, ever do anything to hurt her I swear. I want to be with her forever, so I would like to ask you for your blessing." I waited for his reaction, I didn't see one coming anytime soon. "Now, I want you to know that this isn't something I take lightly. I've thought about it before and I know that I'm right for Bella and that she's right for me. I have considered doing this before, so it's not just because I want to _state my claim _on her before I leave. I love her more than I can imagine verbalizing." Still no look on his face. "The wedding definitely wouldn't take place until the war was over, or at least until I was back and staying. I would get a job. I would buy a house and we could settle down after I got back. We could start a family and live happily ever after. I know that it won't always be easy but I will stand by Bella no matter what happens." Still nothing. "So please, Mr. Swan, I would like to marry your daughter, and I would like to ask for your permission and blessing." he stood up and started to walk away but he stopped when he got closer to the kitchen. He paused and turned to face me, leaning against the wall.

"Okay, fine, sure." he said with a nod and he used a calmer, almost happy sounding, tone of voice. "Just don't die in the war." he turned and walked away.

I called a thank you and good evening to him and then ran out the door. I had to get to Alice's and talk to Bella, I hoped that I wouldn't be in the way.

I knocked on the door and Cynthia, Alice's fourteen year old sister was standing there.

"Hi, Cynthia is Bella here?" I asked and searched the room behind her. I saw nothing but furniture and Alice's other little sister, Lucy, toddling up behind Cynthia.

"Wrong house Edward." she said and rolled her eyes.

"I know, but Charlie said that she would be here." I said.

"Alice and Bella just left." she leaned against the frame. "It's Alice's shift at the diner and she wanted some company since it's late."

"Okay thanks, are you guys okay here?" she nodded. She was right it was late. Almost eleven.

"Okay I'll see you guys tomorrow I guess."

"Bye." she said and I took off.

Why hadn't I asked my dad for the car?

I walked up to the parking lot of the diner. The lights outside were dimmed and the place was quiet. The air was warm and what I was about to do finally hit me.

I was about to propose to the girl of my dreams.

How was I supposed to go about this? I mean a candle light dinner was out of the question, a walk in the park maybe but it was awfully late. Was I really going to ask her to marry me in some diner with Alice watching?

I pushed open the doors to the diner.

I guess I was.

The place was half dark. The only light that was on was the one above Alice. She was sitting with her feet up, eating something that looked like ice cream, and reading a magazine. She had a record playing in the back round softly, singing along with it.

She looked up and quickly put her feet down, she grabbed the rag that was on the other side of her and pretended to clean.

"Alice, it's just me." I said and walked towards her. She looked at me and her eyes adjusted.

"Oh, well then." she tossed the rag back on the counter, put her feet up and then went back to her magazine.

"Is Bella here?" I asked hopeful.

"No you just missed her. She realized the time and decided to go home. Couldn't blame her, it's almost, what, eleven now?"

"Yeah, eleven." I sighed and sat down across the counter from her. She adjusted so she sat like a civilized person, feet on the floor like they should be.

"What did you need her for anyways?" she asked, only half in the conversation, the other half was reading gossip from glossy, colorful pages.

"I was going to propose to her." I said to see her reaction.

"Okay, sure." she said and rolled her eyes.

"No really." she looked up at me. She closed her magazine and pushed it aside, then leaned her head in to see my eyes better. She grabbed my chin in her small hand. She turned my head side to side, examining it. Then she leaned in and glared at my eyes, reading into them.

"What are you-"

"Oh my God you're serious!" she said and gasped, her hand flying to her heart.

"Yes, Alice. I am, what were you-"

"Well, go get her. Go ask her right now!" she said and smiled. She had walked around the counter and had gotten her jacket, ready to come with me.

"No, Alice, Alice!" I called as she headed for the door. I got up and went to catch her elbow.

"Come on let's go ask her." she said and tried to pull away.

"No Alice, its too late. I'll do it sometime tomorrow or something." I said walking away from her.

"What! What no you can't just do it _sometime tomorrow or something_!" she sounded appalled. She took her jacket off and walked back around to her seat. "You can't treat your proposal like a homework assignment." she said.

"Then what do you suggest I do?" I asked, frustrated.

"I don't know. Woo her Edward!" she said as if it was obvious. "She already loves you it can't be that hard. Just tell her that you love her and then ask."

"Yeah but what's the setting? Where should I do it?"

"Well, where's her favorite place?" she asked, her eyes curious. She played with her finger nails as she searched for answers.

"Disney World."

She gave me a look that said _are you kidding me. _"Locally."

"Probably the beach." I said.

"Then take her there, make her feel special. Make her feel so in love with you that she couldn't help but say yes." she smiled.

"Yeah, but I can't just walk her to the beach and ask her, there has to be some lead up right?"

"Who says?" her hands flew up in the air them slammed back down on the table with a slap sound. "If you guys are in love you shouldn't have to be elaborate about it. You should've been able to walk into this diner in front of everyone and asked her." I gave a look that, apparently, gave away how ironic her statement was. That _was _after all what I was just about to do.

"Ohhh my God, you weren't really going to do that right?" she had a disgusted look on her face.

"Yes, I was but it shouldn't matter because-"

"Edward, that's crap. You don't have to take her to Paris but it does have to be private. Private is you and her and no one else. Not even me unfortunately." she pouted her lip out.

"Okay Alice, since you're such the expert why don't you take my through it step by step."

"Okay." she said and looked at the ceiling as if there was a movie screen of what would be happening up there. "So, you should come by her house and ask her to go for a walk with you. Make sure it's late, so not alot of people are out. It's also better if it's not on a school night because she might have homework and she would have school the next morning. So when you start walking, act as everything's normal. You're just talking, just wanted to go for a stroll then **BAM!**" she yelled, got on her feet and slammed her fist on the table. "Get down on one knee and ask her."

"So if she's talking about cheer leading practice, I should just stop, get on my knee, and ask her to marry me?" she nodded. "Okay then Alice, thanks for the advice, I think I'm going to go talk to my mom about this."

"Okay, never mind how." she stopped me, excited. "What's the ring look like?"

"Uh, ring?" I asked, I knew that I was supposed to have one, but I didn't.

"Yes Edward, a ring. Traditionally the proposer gives the proposee a ring while...proposing." she rolled her eyes and her arms hit her sides in defeat.

"I don't have a ring." I said looking down.

"You were going to propose to her without a ring?" I nodded. She rolled her eyes but then smiled. "Ugh, never mind that then. Now about the wedding..." she went on like that until her shift was over. She did, eventually, do her work. We had left by about one. Alice had taken her car so we drove to her house, I wanted to walk by Bella's house to make sure she had gotten home alright.

I hoped out of Alice's car.

"Thanks for the drive home." I said and walked around the car to hug her goodnight.

"Good luck." she said before walking in her house.

"God knows I'll need it." I walked down her driveway and she laughed.

I walked down to her house, even though it wasn't on my way home. I glanced up at her window. I saw her dark silhouette walk across her room. She walked from light to light and with each bulb going dark her shadow became fuzzier and fuzzier. When all the lights were out she disappeared completely.

As I walked home I thought about my two, very eventful days since Friday night after the game. I had gone from being on a football high, to feeling close to nothing, to trying to comfort my family, to deciding to ask for Bella's hand.

Life was a crazy ride, and I would soon be taking the train over to Vietnam, where I wouldn't experience anything close to what I had the past two days.

* * *

**Thank you for reading. Please leave me a review telling me what you thought, what you think will happen, or what you think should happen next chapter.**

**Thank you so much again!**

**PLT!**

**~AliceSwift**


	4. Chapter 4:Fearless

**Hey guys, it's AliceSwift with an update of Consider Me Drafted. **

**enjoy!**

**lots. of. love.**

**PLT!**

**~AliceSwift**

**"Being fearless is not being 100% unafraid, it's being terrified but jumping anyways."**

**~Taylor Swift.**

**

* * *

**

I woke up the next morning to the warm air coming through the window. It spread across my face and let me know that it was time to get up for school.

As soon as I opened my eyes I was hit with a sense of nausea, it was in the deepest pit of my stomach and made it cramp. It was like my the middle of my torso was my of ropes and someone was pulling on them. Making them twist and turn, intertwine with each other and tighten to the point of pain.

I stood up and tried to stretch, it only made the pain worse so I just stopped trying. I decided to switch to the mental healing strategy.

I knew what I was worried about, and I knew that there was nothing to get this worked up over.

I hadn't seen Edward yesterday, except in the morning, and besides the few times we would whisper to each other, we hadn't talked in church. So, even though I knew he wasn't gone, he was just a few blocks away, and I could call him, it felt as if he was. And that scared me more than anything. Would I really be able to handle being without him for so long, especially if this was happening after only one day when I hadn't seen him.

We had always made a point of seeing each other. If we didn't stay close than we would've fallen apart.

We had known each other since we were born, him being only three or so months older than me, we had always been put together, and so far hadn't gotten sick of each other.

It really all started with our mothers.

In high school, my mom and Charlie were already steadily dating. They were far too focused on each other so my mom didn't have any real girlfriends. When it came to Esme, my mom wasn't the best of friends with her, but they were friendly. Saying hi to each other in the hallways, lending each other history notes, helping the other out if they needed it, but other than that they didn't really have any real friendship.

Pretty soon, the time for college came around. My dad had decided not to go, he figured that he could find a decent job with as much education as he had, and clearly, as chief of police, he had. My mom, however, loved learning, and even if she never found a job, she wanted to know as much as possible. So she went to college to get a degree in teaching. Charlie was still living at my grandparents house, and was, surprisingly, fine with it. My mom, of course, felt as though it was time to earn some independence. So while my dad went out job hunting to get money to buy an apartment, my mom stayed in a dorm on campus.

When she got there, she was pleased to see Esme had chosen the same college, and major that she had. My mom was even happier when she found out that they would be sharing a dorm, as was Esme. They had both had the fear of hating the person they lived with, and were relieved to find that it was someone they knew and could stand being around.

Throughout college, they stood up for each other, stayed together, grew closer as friends, and eventually graduated in the same year.

My mom had been pregnant with Emmett her last year of college and had given birth just three months before graduating, though it was tough, my dad was able to keep Emmett with him long enough for my mom to finish college. After that my parents bought an apartment and so had Esme.

The year after college Esme had moved fast. She had met Carlisle-most called him Dr. Cullen and I had too until he insisted I call him Carlisle, though if I was talking to anyone but him, Edward, Esme, Alice, or Emmett, I still called him Dr. Cullen because it helped his image as a doctor who was to be taken seriously. I had heard that Esme loved Carlisle more in heart years than she had anyone her entire life. Two months into their relationship they got married, about a month later Esme got pregnant with Edward, and my mom with me three months later.

Edward was born June twentieth, and I was born September thirteenth of the same year.

Instead of letting their growing families get in the way of their friendship, they allowed that to play a part in making their bond stronger. They had Edward and I together before we could voice, or for that matter think, an opinion.

As we grew both of them got jobs, teachers were needed at both the elementary school and high school. Esme accepted a job as an English teacher and my mom got a job taking care of kindergartners.

They stayed the best of friends and seemed to have the balance among work, play, and family down to a science. Since they still wanted 'girl time' they went shopping and to see movies. When they did they asked my dad or Carlisle to watch Edward and I.

Since we never really had a break from each other, ever, there was never an awkward 'nice to meet you my name is-' introduce yourself day. We really just had to learn to interact with each other, because if we didn't we would both be bored out of our minds.

From diapers, to daycare, from elementary school to junior high, we had been the best of friends.

Edward and I had started going steady only three months before my mom died.

She was crushed, literally, by a drunk driver. She had stayed late at school to talk to the principal about something, and the other driver had a hard day at work. One red light was passed through, and that was it. The beginning of the end had begun and it was a downward spiral for months from there.

The first time I had met Carlisle and Esme, no longer as Edward's best friend who was a girl, but as his girlfriend, was when I went over to his house to deliver the news of my mother's death.

We were only thirteen and I wanted someone to comfort me. My dad had gone numb already and while his friends, Harry Clearwater, and Billy Black, tried to get him back to normal, I snuck off to Edward's house.

Of course, nothing happened, as you might have presumed. With me in such a vulnerable state and needing someone to tell me it was okay, you might think I trusted his words more than I should have. But with the memory of my mother thick in my mind and strong in my heart, her words echoed in my head. Don't do anything that you wouldn't want to talk to me about.

My mom and I were close. She would go shopping with me after school, stay up late and watch funny movies with me when I was upset. Stay home with me, even, if I was sick. We were very close, and distance, in this case at least, definitely made the heart grow founder.

I could try to explain it hundreds of times to my dad, Emmett, Alice, even Edward, but the only one who seemed to understand was Esme. Something that my mom hadn't told me about her was that her mom had died when she was only ten, without any older sisters that made life harder for her, without an older female role model to look up to she truly had to find herself.

I could tell her everything that I felt.

I told her of how every dream I had of my mother would never come true, and she understood. How I had dreamed of going dress shopping for dances, and one day even my wedding with her. How I dreamt of coming out of the dressing room at the shop and having her give her opinion. How I wanted her to show me how to wear makeup and do my hair. How I had wanted her to be the one to guide me through life until I was old enough to move out on my own. How all of this was ruined by one slip of the foot by some idiot who had too many drinks at some lousy bar with his friends.

And for once she didn't tell me it would be okay. She didn't look at me with forgiving eyes and tell me life would go on for me and that my mom was in a better place. She just said that I could still do all of those things, and that, even if I didn't want her to be, she would be there for me because she cared about me too much to watch me suffer through those things with my dad.

So she did help me shop for dresses, help me the first day of high school when I had worn blush, went shopping with me after school sometimes, and even watched movies with me if I was upset. While this should have felt wrong, like she was taking my mother's place and doing all the things she wasn't supposed to, it felt exactly right. Hardly ever did I see Esme as my boyfriend's mom, not once did I think that it would've been cliche` and that she hated me for stealing her little boy, because she had done for me what no one ever could have. No, I'm not saying that my mother would've have done all of those things for me, I'm just saying that I don't think anyone else could have helped me move on. While I still missed my mother, and how I wish she could be here with me now, Esme was there to take her place. She was just one dash on the dial over from perfect. Perfect being what my mother was.

I would never forget my mother, and I don't think I'll ever get over her, but if I have to, I'm glad Esme if the one to guide me along life's path.

I was in the kitchen, getting an apple from the fridge for breakfast. While I normally would've sat at the table and had cereal, or toast, today was different. I needed to get to school, I had to see Edward, and soon. If I didn't, I didn't know what would happen.

I grabbed my books off the table and glanced at the clock hanging above the sink, telling me that I was leaving almost an hour early than I normally would. I rushed out of the front door and onto the sidewalk, half running to the school only to find the doors locked and the parking lot empty. All I had to do now was sit. Sit and wait for someone to show up. The principal to come and unlock the door, allowing me into the heat, other students to show up, conversation filling the silence, Edward to come and calm my nerves.

"Bella." I heard the voice from the corner of the building, my heart stopped.

"Edward." I said, putting my things on the ground and running to see him. When I reached him I met his embrace for the countless time, though it felt a thousand times more comforting now than ever. He pulled my chin up so my eyes could meet his gaze, and he leaned his neck down so our lips could meet.

"Why are you here so early?" I asked once he had pulled away.

"The same reason you're here." he said and caressed my face.

I felt like crying tears of happiness and reunion, but I knew I couldn't for two reasons. One; it would have completely ruined the moment. Right now we were both supposed to be happy and glad to see each other, I didn't want to have to deal with the puffy eyes and red lines down my face because of my pathetic emotions. It wasn't that I was embarrassed to cry in front of him. I had multiple times and for reasons that were far less serious than this. That lead me to my next reason. Two; I didn't want him to know how much being away from him, short time as it was, hurt me. If he was going to be leaving for months at a time then I couldn't have him feeling guilty about leaving me behind. I didn't want him to have any distractions while he was away for obvious reasons. Reasons that if I thought about would surely make the emotions swell even more, forcing the tears, that I was trying so hard to hold back, to the surface.

I pushed my emotions back, pushing them into the deepest pit of my body, and fell into him again, wanting nothing but to feel his warmth. Know that he was here with me now, and that all the awful dreams that I had dreamt were nothing but that. Dreams. Or would nightmares be the correct term?

And so there we stood. The haunting echo of unsaid words being drown out by the sound of our beating hearts. It was an odd picture-to me at least, and I'm sure it was for him as well. We had stood outside of the school so many times together. Talked, kissed, held hands, hugged. But this was so much more than that-it wasn't just him whispering 'I love you' in my ear, nor was it the good morning embrace that got me out of bed. It was the thing that were being told by our eyes and breathing that made this moment special, unique, and, like I said, odd. The tension that was between us in our familiar surroundings made it strange, but in an amazing way.

Even though it was probably better this way, not saying what needed, so badly, to be said, I did want to talk about it. I wanted to tell him about the dreams I had last night. To confess of my fears and hopes and everything that I was terrified of. Then I thought, he has all his own, why bother him with mine? Why clutter his already blurred mind with my own insecurities? And really, were there any words that could fully and completely describe what I felt? I had to admit, I was at a loss for words myself.

What do you do when something needs to be said but no one is speaking? What do you say when you want to express something but there are no words to describe the emotion?

The best conclusion I had; nothing. And so there we stood. Leaving the unsaid words as they were. Unsaid.

"I don't want to go to school today." he said, breaking the silence and making my heart skip a beat.

I'm not quite sure where the words came from, but I knew that they were sincere.

"Me either, but you know that we have to." I said, his hand was smoothing down my hair on the back of my head. I couldn't remember if I had brushed my hair this morning or not, thought it didn't _really _matter, it would've been helpful.

"Why? Why should we have to go and sit through hours of school-hours wasted, hours waiting." He asked, now slightly irritated.

"Edward, you don't want to miss these days." I said, the reason hung between us, more words spoken with silence. He was holding my face in his hands, one on each cheek. Placed carefully on my skin, as if a slip of his finger could break everything that had been established in our silent exchange.

"Then let's ditch. Ditch school with me. If someone catches us then it was all my fault, I tricked you into it, seduced you into the car and out of the parking lot. I forced you to come with me and made you have fun all day. Just please come with me?" He asked, his eyes moving, studying my face carefully. Reading my expressions and looking at the meanings of the faces.

"You can't be serious." I said, voice starting to break, not from tears but from the glimmer of hope I felt that I might get a full day of him to myself. No interruptions, no one to come and destroy the wall that we tended to build up to block the world out, no one to say don't go out of town.

"I'm completely serious Bella. Entirely." he said, voice taking on a begging tone.

"You have too much to do before you leave." I said, silently praying the tears wouldn't come now. "Besides, you have all next week off to get ready for departure. And tomorrow is an inservice day, so we can spend time together then." I said.

"I'll do it Wednesday, after school. It'll all get done, I promise." he said. I saw a light in his eyes and I could tell he knew that I wanted to.

He still looked at me, this time his eyes just gazed into mine. And I stared back at his, counting each and every shade of the beautiful green emeralds they resembled.

"Fine," I said finally and he beamed at me. Scooping me up into his arms and twirling me around in a small circle before setting me down and kissing me. I was surprised at the amount of passion the kiss held. The feeling of excitement and the hairs raising on the bak of my neck as our lips molded together.

It ended all too soon.

"Let's go." he said and grabbed my hand. We fearlessly ran of to enjoy our day together.


	5. Chapter 5: Tragically Soon

**Hey guys, it's AliceSwift with an update of Consider Me Drafted. **

**enjoy!**

**lots. of. love.**

**PLT!**

**~AliceSwift**

**"I've got a tight grip on reality but I can't, let go of what's in front of me here."**

**~Paramore.**

**~The Only Exception. **

**

* * *

**

"So, -school-for-no-good-reason-"I strarted, my tone teasing.

"Hey, I have a good reason. The perfect explanation for my sudden attempt at being bad." he smiled at me crookedly from his seat and I bit my lip, resisting the urge to scream with joy then lean over and kiss him.

"Okay then if it's so good then why don't you tell me what it is." I said, crossing my arms.

"You should know." he said. The expression on my face felt like it looked cofused, and it must have been because he then scanned me up and down with his eyes. I got what he was hinting at.

"I'm the reason that you're missing school! Edward, tell me this isn't all for me, please. I would feel terrible knowing that I was the reason for you missing one of your last days was me."

"Okay," he paused, looking out the windsheild. "The weather is great, it's a perfect day to spend outside. Why waste it inside crowded hallways and boring classrooms?" he said and laughed. I smiled too, despite how bad I felt. I think I already knew, before he told me, that I was the reason-but it would've been nice to keep telling myself that it wasn't me. Somwhere though, my subconcious told me that it felt good to know that he loved me that much.

"Sure, fine, now let's pretend that I believe that." he rolled his eyes. "What are we going to do today,when the weather is so great and all?"

"I don't know, what do you want to do?" he asked. This sort of surprised me. Of course, he always asked me what I wanted to do, but normally he would have somewhat of a plan-not leave all of the day in my hands.

"I'm not sure. What's there to do that hasn't already been done?" I asked, my head against the seat behind me.

"That's true, but there has to be something." he said with a smile, glancing over at me before moving his eyes quickly to the road, realizing that I was watching him too.

"Let's just drive then." I said and he smiled at me again.

And so we drove, first to my house so I could get a some things. I also left my dad a note saying that I was going out with Alice and Edward after school.

The amount of laughter that filled the car was remarkable. I had my fair share of amazing times with Edward, but hardly any of them lived up to the wonderful time we were having. I could only find the slightest trace of the terrible event that was to follow the next two weeks, and while it was there, it was too faint to worry over. Right now the only thing that was important to me was that Edward was here, in front of me. He was laughing, and smiling, and looking at me with eyes so beautiful it could make the most bitter person bite their lip. He was here, and so was I-so for now, that was the only important thing.

We had gone on like that for almost twenty minutes before I finally pointed to a small coffee shop and suggested breakfast, since, clearly, neither of us had bothered with it.

We went in and the place was nearly empty. There were only four employees that I could see, two waiting tables, one behind the counter, and then the one who was seating us. As for customers, there was only an elderly couple in the corner, and mother and her little girl who sat at a booth by the window, and a girl, not much older than me, by herself at the counter, seated closest to the window.

The waitress, who I now realized was quite pretty-blonde, tan despite the constant darkness of Forks, and had long legs that showed underneath her dangerously short skirts- seated us in one of the booths opposite the old couple, gave us our menus, then asked for our drink orders.

"Can I have a coffee please?" I asked.

"Sure, and for you?" she said turning to Edward.

"I'll have the same." he said.

"Okay, I'll be right back with those." she said and smiled at us before taking off to the kitchen.

"So what're you having?" I asked.

"I don't know." he said. "What're you having?"

"I don't know." I said with a pause. "What're you having?"

"Are we four-years-old again Bella?" he asked. He only meant it in the sense that the conversation that we were carrying could easily be that of children. But for me it had a double meaning, the other being that today would have no worries. Nothing to be bothered about and nothing to remind us of the bad things to follow today. Like when we were four, when we didn't know what was wrong, when our world was one block wide and when war was a card game. Not something that he was being pulled into, and something that was a thought I was avoiding. But today that _would _be the thought furthest from my mind. Today I would be a little four-year-old girl. Today I would pretend and wish away the bad, with Edward by my side that shouldn't be hard to do.

"It appears so." I said and I hoped that my voice sounded light hearted enough not to worry him. It must've been because he smiled and looked down at the menu.

"I think I'll get the pancakes." I said, only doing so because that was the first thing I saw on the menu and this wasn't what I wanted to be talking about.

"Me too." he said and put his menu to the side of the table.

"Here's your coffee." said the waitress, coming up to the table again. "Be careful, they're hot." she sat them down in front of us. "Are you ready to order?" she asked taking out her note pad. We told her what we had decided on, she wrote them down then walked away.

"I'm please to see that, for once, our waitress isn't interested in you." I said looking at Edward.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean that whenever we go out to eat the prettiest waitress always comes up to the table and flirts with you, and asks seductively what you want to eat and always comes back with two buttons undone on her dress."

"Really?" he asked, in a smug manner.

"Yes, Edward and don't pretend you haven't noticed." I rolled my eyes.

"Well, I have noticed, it's ovbious, they make it so it's like that. I've never, honestly, cared much though. It's not classy and I find it dreadfully distasteful. Besides, when you have something so much more beautiful in front of you, why bother paying attention." He smiled at me and I couldn't help but be charmed by the cheesy comment.

I looked for words to say in response, but what could I say. I always found myself at a loss for words when he complimented me. What could you say when the person you love called you gorgeous and beautiful. I mean, I certainly couldn't say 'right back at you' or 'ditto' and it would sound extremely lame of me to call him handsome or something similar to that. So my reply to him was always being flustered, blushing, rolling my eyes, then looking down only to be further distracted by his smile.

A few moments later our waitress came with the pancakes and sat them down in front of us, said a few words that I didn't entirely hear and then walked away.

"So, have you decided what you want to do yet?" he said, ripping the pankcakes apart with his fork.

"Not yet." I said, still flustered by the whole situation. The silence of words and the too loud sounds of forks against plates made me realize how crazy we were being. But in a way I was happy that we would have this experience together. He would go off and have tons of other crazy times without me, while I was here going through the motions with only a shadow in the place of where he should be. This very well could be the last time we would ever be crazy together, and if it was, then I knew that it had to be completely and entirely insane.

The rest of the breakfast was filled with normal conversation, and got my mind, somewhat, off of what terribleness was haunting us. We talked about our friends, school, and things that were happening at home. The most heartbreaking part of the entire meal, was then realzing afterwards that the very similar world that we had been discussing would soon be two worlds apart.

"Are you ready to go?" Edward asked me. We were holding hands from across the table, the plates had been cleared about ten minutes ago now. The conversation had slowed and I agreed that we should get moving.

"Sure." I responded.

We went up to the register to pay and as we did I noticed how all different times of life lived in this room. The elderly couple-who, from what I could tell, seemed very much still in love-was still seated in a booth in the corner. They were sitting on the same seat, holding hands and occasionally kissing each other. They would just look up and gaze at eachother's eyes. Their body language announced just how in love they were and if it was quiet enough I would think you could here their hearts beat in unison. That was how I wanted to be someday, still madly and devastatingly in love, even when I was old and gray. I never wanted the whirleys in my stomach to go away when I thought about the one I loved. I never wanted to look at him and think that it was just another passing glance. I wanted to see Edward's face every morning when I woke up and still hear my heart beat in my chest, threatening to bust out at any moment. I wanted to be with him forever and I wanted to be in love with him forever.

Of course when I pictured my future, Edward was the only one that I could ever imagine starting a family and growing old with. So when I did paint that mental picture he was the one next to me in everything that I did.

As we walked up to the register I saw the little girl with her mother again. I saw the joy in the child's eyes as she licked the ice cream cone her mother had ordered her. The little one seemed not much older than four and her mom seemed maybe twenty-five. The little girl was dressed in a small pink dress with polka-dots all over it, her golden blonde hair was half up and all curled. Her small shoes with gold buckles contained white socks that had lace around the cuff. Her mother was dressed in a brown pencil skirt with pin stripes, a lighter brown tweed blazer and had a hat on top of her head, enclosing her dark brown locks. They seemed like they were so happy and as the mother finished paying the little girl pulled on her skirt, tugging her out of the diner and onto the sidewalk. They looked at eachother and laughed, just a couple of girls on the town-or not so town. They held hands as they ran down the street, trying to stay close to the buildings to avoid the drizzle outside.

Edward paid, we had done the bill dance a few times. He would offer to pay, and I would refuse, and he would refuse my refusing and so on until it ended up in an arugument. Now I just let him pay, he seemed happy to and I didn't ever want to ruin a night out with him.

As we walked out I saw the girl, who, again, I noticed was not older than me. She was just staring into the rain, a cup of-now cold-coffee in front of her. Her hair was a mess, she was wearing a tattered leather jacket that hung off her right shoulder, only to reveal a thin blue shirt. She also was wearing what appeared to be men's trousers. We were out the door now, but I was too interested in her to look away. Her mascara was running, most likely stained now, and her face was pale. I saw a piece of paper in her hands, folded three times and looking official. A blue star was enough indication to know what had happened to her that day. She had recieved a letter from the Army. One loved lost, one loved missing, one loved gone enitrely. No matter what the letter said, it seemed to me that it was enough to cause her pain.

A letter and an apologetic smile from a postman would never suffice for the heartbreak and loss of a loved one.

I then realized that could be me very soon. Tragically soon.

So as I went off to spend one of my last days around Edward, she was remembering her last day with someone she loved just as much. I looked at Edward, holding hands, love flowing through the two of us like water flows easily through a stream. While she was remembering a time that she had that was like the time Edward and I were having.

So while I was here with him, and he was still with me, I would remember everything about him for the next two weeks. Every look, every expression, every tone of voice, and every twinge at the corners of his mouth, because it was now becoming even more evident to me that I may not get to see him again...ever.

And that horror was too much to think about, so I would remember, and I would never forget.

* * *

**Hey guys, thank you for reading! I will be updating here again next Tuesday so be sure to stop by and read. Also, I've come up with a writing schedule and posted it on my profile so be sure to go over and read that!**

**Leave a review please!**

**lots. of. love.**

**PLT!**

~AliceSwift 


	6. Chp6:Bliss Oblivion and Emotions on Fire

**Here's Consider Me Drafted. I hope you love it! Also be sure to check out my writing schedule asap. It's on my profile so go look at it!**

**I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. **

**lots. of. love.**

**PLT!**

**~AliceSwift  
**

* * *

_"I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up. Leave me with some kine of proof it's not a dream."_

_~The Only Exception. _

_~Paramore._

We were in the bed of Edward's truck. We were in a field about ten miles away from town. Honey Creek ran fluidly, gracefully behind us and we could only hear three sounds. Our breathing, our heartbeats, and the sound of a cricket's tune falling into the background like music.

"Today was amazing Edward." I said in a tone just above a whisper. There didn't need to be conversation, but I wanted to hear his voice. I was leaning on his chest, there was a brown fleece blanket over us and we had been looking at the stars. He looked down at me now.

"Only because it was spent with you." he said and I smiled. He kissed my forehead before leaning down to touch my lips.

I loved this day, but there was something inside of me that told me it wasn't enough. I knew that this could very well be the last real date Edward and I have before he was sent away. The last time that we would truly be eachother's and no one else's. This could be the last time that we could just be ourselves and not worry about on lookers and what they thought.

As I thought about our day together I realized just how much it had made me forget. Though it was always clouding my mind the could became nothing more than a fog as the day turned to dusk.

We had gone out, ditched school and just had fun. Enjoying eachother's company. We had gone to the park. Watched the younger children play, wide eyed and in bliss oblivion. Wishful thinking made me want to go back to that time when war wasn't something I had to face, something that grown-ups dealt with. War used to be a card game, not something that came into my life took my boyfriend and dragged him away to fight in a war that had nothing to do with him.

When Jasper was taken away I watched Alice. I watched her life crumble beneath her. Shatter into millions of tiny pieces under the pressure of her life. How could her own fate betray her that way? Take the book of her life, birth to death, and shake up the teenage years so something so tragic would happen. I watched her suffer through that, yet still get up every morning to greet another day and I knew I would never be that strong.

But now I knew that I would have to be that strong. That brand of courage that could only penetrate from the most powerful of people.

"I love you Edward." I said quietly.

"I love you too, Bella." he whispered to me, kissing behind my ear, down my neck, then up my jaw until he reached my lips.

I don't remember the day that I had to grow-up. I don't remember the day someone cursed me and said _may adulthood come upon you_ . I always thought, well up until just a few days ago, that I never would really have to grow up. I could have that Peter-Pan complex until the day I died, gray haired and ill. I always thought that growing up could just mean knowing when to make the right decisions and when to make them. The rest of the time you could be playful and imaginative and not have to worry about the flaws of life until decision making time came.

Now I realize that pressure of making those decisions weighed more than I could have ever imagined, and that realization was a cold, snow covered thought.

I wondered if that ice of adulthood could ever be melted, surely it could. With days like today, with people like Edward, that come along and bless us with warmth, there had to be a way to make the freeze pass.

Edward, the gorgeous boy who I had known my entire life. It was to him that I had expressed my deepest fears, so why was I shying away from that now.

If he was going to..._die..._ then I wanted there to be nothing left unsaid, no space untouched, no surface a virgin to our conversation.

"I'm scared." I said. My voice sounding to plain and simple to match my swirling thoughts.

"Of what?" he asked. I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or if he was trying to cover up that he was scared too.

"What isn't there to be scared of Edward?" I asked, sitting up to look at him. "You're going off to war and I'll have to wake up to every day never knowing if during the next hour there's going to be a knock on my door reporting your death. I'll have to go to every football game on Fridays and pray through the tears that they don't announce your name on the list of local soldiers that've passed. I'll never know if you're okay, or if you're dying and honestly Edward that _terrifies me._" Tears started pooling in the corners of my eyes.

"Shhh, Bella." he said, sitting up and taking me into his arms. I quickly wrapped mine around him. I think somewhere inside of me a younger Bella would've hoped that if I could just hug him long enough he would miss his train. He wouldn't have to go to fight and no one would ever notice.

But a grown Bella knew that someone would and this hug, like all bliss, would have to end.

"Bella, I need you to be strong. I have no more insight on this than you do." he searched my eyes and I sniffled back the tears. "I need you to stay here and let everyone know that we're doing fine, even if we're not. I need you to tell everyone that I'm okay up until the day, God forbid it ever come, that you get a letter saying I'm dead." I started sobbing and he pushed back the blanket and took my hands in his. "I need you Bella."

My sobs got caught in my throat and I looked at him. His green eyes, sparkling under nothing but the moonlight reflecting off the water. I scanned down, his perfect figure that would never live up to anyone elses I could ever lay eyes on.

After the war, the body I may never lay eyes on again.

I jumped on him then, my legs wrapped around his waist and my arms around his neck.

"Edward." I breathed, not sure where my sentence was going. His hands were on my back, pulling me closer until there was no space between our bodies. Just one unit, hearts beating at a terrifying pace in unison.

Blood pulsed behind my ears and my breathing became quick and shallow. I suddenly had this aching need in side my stomach. That need of wanting something more. That voice in my head that was telling my to tie myself to Edward in every way I could possibly think of.

That voice was saying _make him yours. _

I then realized that this aching wasn't as sudden as I might have believed. It had carried me through the day, and, unlike the other things I had recently realized, it had a white hot energy that radiated through my veins and into my heart.

I pulled back to look at Edward. His green eyes connected to a heart and soul who had no idea of what had just gone through my mind.

I put my lips on his and the way he kissed me made me think that he was taken aback by my sudden act of passion.

This kiss was untouched territory. Not something that we had ever experienced before. We had kissed multiple times, but never like this. Never with this amount of heat and energy.

His soft lips would normally barely touch mine, a tender peck on the lips before class, saying goodnight, or wishing each other luck at the big game that night. Now it was his lips against mine, I was a part of this too. His warm mouth opened against mine as we moved together in perfect unison. One wave of emotion, never two acting off each other.

His tongue ran across my bottom lip before slipping onto mine. I moaned at the aching pain that was increasing within me.

He pulled me closer into him and I was almost positive that he wanted me as much as I wanted him.

I thought about that, then realized this wasn't a want. It was a need, a need for each other.

I unlaced my arms from around his neck and ran them down the smooth surface of his shirt until I reached the very end of the fabric.

I yanked off his shirt without hesitation and then put my hands on him. His perfect, marble chest. Pale yet beautiful in every way that a man ever could be.

"Bella," he moaned into my mouth. He turned over quickly, so he was on top of me but I also didn't feel any of his weight on me. He kissed my neck, then my shoulder until he reached my collar bone, his head was on the back of my head so I didn't hit the back of the truck.

I caressed his chest in adoration, yet still I wasn't satisfied.

"Edward, I-" I sighed in pain, trying to make it go away yet still contemplating the choice I had in front of me.

"I know." he said, pulling away for a moment.

In that moment I was positive.

I slid my hands down his chest, taking in every curve and angle of him before I came to the soft denim fabric of his jeans.

"Bella, are you sure?" he asked, lust a slight haze over his eyes. His hand over mine, strong while our emotions were on fire. I knew that he would be only slightly disappointed if I decided to back out. I still could, easily.

"Yes." I nodded and he smiled crookedly.

I undid the button on his pants but before I could get them all the way off he had me in his arms, sitting up again. He reached down and held the fabric at the bottom of my dress in his hands. He looked at me and I nodded in reassurance, heart racing with excitement.

He ripped away the fabric, taking it over my head and tossing it the other way. He grabbed the back of my head and brought his lips to mine again. I grabbed down at his thighs and started moving his jeans down until they were at his ankles, he kicked them off.

Soon we were both fully exposed in nothing but skin. He laid me down on the blanket that way luckily beneath us.

He started at my ankles, planting soft and caring kisses on my body. With each kiss that was planted grew a whole other level of ecstasy. Another level of wanting, needing, aching.

His warm lips made me shiver when he pulled away, the cold air giving me goosebumps. His skin on mine the only thing that would truly warm me tonight.

Eventually his lips made his way between my breasts and to my neck. He started nibbling at the skin tenderly, between each graze of his teeth he kissed my neck. I moaned his name out and I heard him chuckle.

"Are you ready?" he murmured. I was confused at first but then I understood.

I stuttered out a shaky, breathy yes.

Suddenly something filled me with pain. I yelped out, shutting my eyes, seeing bright neon colors of lust and passion.

"Open your eyes." he said and I listened. I wondered how he knew what to do and the things to say. The places to touch and the tones of voice to use. "Now, don't close you eyes again. I want you to look into my eyes and never look away."

So I did, I let my eyes melt into his. Green pools of water, shimmering in the light of the moon and stars. Not a dark forest green, but a magical, beautiful green that invited me in. Taking me into to a world of enchantment and loveliness. Once I was there I didn't want to leave, I didn't want to back away, especially without knowing the pain that might await me on the other side. All I heard of that side was Edward, saying my name. Breathing in and out, his breaths the same pace as my footsteps as I walked through this world. Searching for him, calling his name as well.

Suddenly I saw those bright colors again, they clouded my vision and blocked the world that I loved and wanted so much to be a part of. A world that went far beyond Edward's eyes. A world where all the ice melted away and everyone and everything lived in warmth. A world where that aching disappeared and I was at the peak of this bliss. A world where there was nothing but me and Edward.

Edward leaned in and planted one last kiss on my lips. Long lasting, forever radiating. He rolled over and laid beside me.

I was brought back into the real world. Laying on the Honey Creek beds with Edward in his truck, my head on his bare chest, his hand running through my hair. His arms were around me and I felt on top of the world in his embrace. I felt like nothing else mattered at that moments except the mountain that we had just climbed together, reached the summit together.

He kissed the top of my head gingerly.

We were about ten miles away from town. Honey Creek ran fluidly, gracefully behind us and we could only hear three sounds. Our breathing, our heartbeats, and the sound of a cricket's tune falling into the background behind us like music.

"Today was amazing Edward." I said, just above a whisper. There didn't need to be conversation, but I wanted to hear his voice one last time before falling asleep here in his arms.

"Only because it was spent with you, love." he said. He kissed my forehead before leaning down to touch my lips.

I loved this day, and there was something inside of me that told me it was enough. For now.

I then let my eyes close and let my mind drift off into bliss oblivion, just like a child.

* * *

**Hey guys, writing this chapter for me was in alot of ways easy and alot of ways hard. This is really my first _lemon _if you could call it that. Um, while writing this the characters really spoke to me and just let me know how to write things and I really loved that. They made me realize that they don't see having sex as _doing it _they see it as a way of tying yourself to another person and I think that's something really beautiful. **

**So, I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it because writing it was a huge eye opener. **

**Also, I would love it if you guys could not only leave your thoughts but give me some helpful criticism. While all flames are openly welcome I would love it for someone to review and say _That was good, but have you ever thought about trying this instead? _**

**Also, don't be smart and leave just that italicized comment in a review.**

**Actually go ahead that would be hysterical.**

**Anyways, thank you so much for reading! You're all awesome!**

**lots. of. love.**

**PLT!**

**~AliceSwift  
**


	7. Chapter 7:Not Strange Yet

**Enjoy the chapter! Another one will be up soon!**

**lots. of. love.**

**PLT!**

**~AliceSwift **

**

* * *

**

_Walls of insincerity,_

_Shifting eyes and vacancy,_

_Vanished when I saw your face._

_All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you._

_This night was sparkling, don't you let it go._

_I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home._

_I'll spend forever, wondering if you knew_

_I was enchanted to meet you..._

~Enchanted.

~Taylor Swift.

* * *

The next morning I woke up in my bed, I wasn't entirely sure how I got there but I also wasn't too concerned about it. I was sure that Edward had covered for me in someway. All I knew right now was that last night was enchanting, a magic of sorts, a brand of wonder that I just couldn't put my finger on.

I looked over at the clock that hung on my wall and realized that I only had ten minutes before first hour started. I pulled the covers back and jumped out of bed. There was a strange ache in my stomach, but it wasn't too terrible. I ignored it and walked across the room to my closet.

I knew I should be worried about what had happened. I knew that I should be contemplating every move and every whisper, but to be honest everything seemed flawless to me. Maybe it was my blind optimism, maybe I was young and naive, but I wasn't stupid. I loved Edward, and judging by every day I had spent with him, he loved me back. I knew now that nothing could change that.

I got yanked on the first dress I laid my hands on, then brushed my hair and teeth, not with the same brush of course. By the time I was done I still had about six minutes before the tardy bell rang.

I ran down the steps, shutting the door behind me.

"Morning Bella." my dad said, his voice coming from the kitchen.

"Oh," I said, surprised he was still here. Then shocked by how normal everything seemed. I bit my lip to hold back a smile. "Good morning dad."

"You got in awful late last night." He took a sip of his coffee then set it back down on the table. All the while not looking at me.

"Yeah, sorry about that." I said, trying my best to sound apologetic. I was the worst liar, Edward was much better at this sort of thing. I hadn't the slightest idea what he was talking about.

"Just, take it easy today okay? No one wants you sick." he smiled at me, finally.

"Sure." I said quietly then turned to head out the door.

"Bye Bells." he called to me.

"My dad." I called back to him.

Was it wrong that I wanted to feel guilty, as if that was what was missing from this morning. I felt as though I should be feeling bad because I had wronged him. Because he had tried so hard to teach me right from wrong. Because he had raised me from the time I was young and small and I told him everything. But I didn't feel guilty at all. I didn't feel as though I would ever break down and confess to him about what had happened.

After my mom died he had tried, but when you're mourning and having to deal with a teenage daughter who's hormones are running on an extra amazing high it's hard to find the time to parent. In the years following her death we had grown apart. I had stopped telling him everything and started confiding in friends, like Edward.

I ran the rest of the way to school, eager to see Edward again and to tell him how much I loved him, how much I wished last night could've lasted forever, how I wished I had stayed awake long enough to ride home with him.

How much I had loved forgetting about everything that was slowly ruining us.

I got to the front doors just as the bell was ringing, luckily my class was just around the corner of the first hallway so by the time the last ring chimed I was walking into class.

I only had to wait another two periods to see Edward, and, believe me, I was counting the seconds.

* * *

"Edward," Pause. "_Psssssttttt_" Pause. "I know you can hear me." Pause. Something hit my head.

"What Alice?" I asked. I wanted to be annoyed with her, but I couldn't. I was too happy.

She gave me a wave of the hand that said to come and sit by her.

I waited until our teacher wasn't looking and then skipped a few seat back to take the empty one next to her.

"What?" I asked.

"Well, my sources tell me that Bella came in late today and that's not like her is it?"

"N-" she started again just before I spoke.

"Is it? She's never late for school ever is she?"

"N-"

"No, she's not, not once. And she seemed extremely chipper. Two things that are extraordinarily unlike her. Happy in the morning and late. Happy when she's late! That's ever something she would do. Is it?"

"No, Ali-"

"And she was smiling the entire class period, that's an hour of nothing but teeth and lips Edward. An hour of _teeth_ and _lips_. And I can only figure that you had something to do with that, now didn't you?"

"Wha-"

"Didn't you? You did! Don't try to deny it. You proposed, you did! You did it and she said yes and now you're going to live happily ever aft-"

"Alice, just shut up for a minute so I can tell you what really happened."

"Mr. Cullen, Ms. Brandon do we have a problem?" the teacher asked, not turning her back to see who it was that was talking.

"Sorry Mrs. Park." we said simultaneously. She kept on writing on the board and I turned back to Alice.

"Then what happened? If you didn't propose then why is she so happy?"

I looked at her, knowing that if I did so long enough that she would understand.

"You guys did not." she scoffed and looked down at her papers for a second before looking back up at me.

She took my chin in her hand again, just as she did two nights ago. She studied my face and then stared at me very intently. A smile grew on her face and her open mouth in took a long, quiet breath.

"You did!" she looked beyond thrilled.

I shook my head, thinking about it.

Every inch of her smooth, soft skin that seemed to go on forever from her head to toes, not that I wanted it to end. Each time a quiet moan escaped her lips, every sound and gasp perfect because it was from her. The way her face looked when she finally fell asleep in my arms. The way the entire night felt. "Yeah, we did."

"Well," for once in her life Alice was, what I took to be, speechless. "Damn."

I rolled my eyes and then walked up the aisle a few steps before sitting in my seat again. I picked up the ball of paper that sat on my desk, what had hit me in the head before, and uncrumpled it to see if it said anything. Knowing Alice it would.

_We will talk about this later!_

~A. .

I looked back at her and she smiled before pointing her pencil at a piece of paper on the floor, wrinkled in a paper ball just like that last one.

I picked it up, unrolled it, and read the note.

_Please, how stupid do you think I am?_

_I knew the second when I heard she was late._

~A.

I looked back at her and she winked at me with a smirk on her lips that told me that she honestly did know all along.

I rolled my eyes, of course Alice would know.

Alice was very popular at school, everyone knew her and she knew everyone else. However, unlike the other 'popular' girls, people actually liked Alice for herself and not because she traded favors.

Another piece of paper hit my head. I rolled my eyes and then picked up the ball from my desk.

_Have you thought about how you're going to propose yet?_

~A.

I shook my head at her and again she waved me back.

"Why not?" she looked up at me as I sat down.

"Because I had other, more important things on my mind." she smiled.

"Well, I think proposing is also pretty important." she said and the bell rang.

"Those assignments will be due by Friday, I would start them tonight if I were you." our teacher put her chalk down and sat down at her desk.

"What assignment?" I asked and Alice shrugged, slightly aggravated by he fact that I hadn't responded to her.

"I'll find out later and tell you then, anyways, you're going to see Bella this period huh?" she picked up her books and elbowed me. I laughed a little.

"Yes Alice, I will." she smiled at me and we walked out the door and into the hallway. I was on my way to my locker, and even though Alice's was in the opposite direction, she followed behind me.

"So, have you ever even talked to her about marriage?" she asked.

"No, not really. Never talking about ourselves at least. I didn't think it mattered really."

She looked slightly shocked. "Of course it matters, Edward. You should at least hint a little." I reached my locker then.

"And why would I do that? I want it to be a surprise, I don't want her to see it coming."

"Okay." she paused to think for a second. "But if you don't give her hints as a fair warning she might be too scared to say yes."

"Alice, we need you to finalize this for the newspaper tomorrow." a girl with glasses and brown hair said from behind her.

"Of course." she said, grabbing the paper the girl was holding out but still looking at me. I heard footsteps from behind me but didn't look to see who it was until Alice turned away.

"Hi Edward." I saw Bella standing there, looking more beautiful than I had ever seen her, if that was even possible.

"Hello Bella." I said and she smiled, biting her lip to hide it.

You'd think it would be strange, after committing such an act in love, to go back to the normalcy of everyday life. Yet it wasn't. It wasn't strange that I then brushed her hair away from her eyes and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. It wasn't odd that I put my arm around her shoulder and led her to class.

* * *

What would be strange was when Edward left for war and I wouldn't have him around.

A month is a long time to go without seeing someone you love, for Edward and I, a day was practically murder.

So, for two people who have spent nearly everyday of forever together, how would months apart at a time go for them?


	8. Chapter 8: No Need To Say Goodbye

**Hey guys! I'm sorry for not updating but after my last updates my computer got inected with a virus that was just cleared out last Friday. So, I had absolutely no way to update! Ugh! However, when I did come back online I saw how many of you continued to check up with my stories. I love you all for your great loyalty and amazing enthusiasm!**

**This chapter is sort of fluffy, but it was fun to write so enjoy it! Let me know what you think of it at the end!**

**lots. of. love. **

**PLT!**

**~AliceSwift **

* * *

_"You'll come back._

_When it's over._

_No need to say goodbye."_

_~The Call._

_~Regina Spektor._

The next day was Wendesday and, as promised, Edward had gone home after school to do homework. I did my homework and then wrote different things for awhile.

I loved writing, and it was more than just a phase as my father thought. All types of writing were beautiful. Poetry, fiction, songs. Words put on a page and arranged in a way to make you feel a certain emotion. That was truly amazing to me. How using different words could paint a different pictures. Words of read, or blue, softer words and letters like pink and yellow would make you think and discover things you might not have otherwise. I only hope that one day I could write something as amazing as some have before me.

I'm not sure if I wanted to be an author, or journalist, or a writer of any sorts for that matter. But, for right now, writing was a hole that I could bury myself in whenever I wanted.

And I loved being in that hole.

Later that night the phone rang, seemingly too loud. I had been alone all night, Charlie was working late so I had the house to myself.

"Hello?" I asnwered. A sigh of relief came from the other end.

"Bella, thank God you're home. Are you with Edward?"

"No, he's at his house. Why?" she sounded out of breath.

"In that case, would you mind doing me a favor?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"I need you to watch Cynthia, Lucy, and my little cousin."

"How little?" I asked. I would do this for her no matter what the answer was, I was just curious.

"Eight months."

"Your aunt did that to you?"

"Yeah, I thought that it might help me get on her good side so she could help me out occasionally." Before Alice's parents had died, her mom had a falling out with her sister. I'd heard that Alice's aunt hadn't even goone to the funeral. After hearing that Alice was watching her younger sisters by herself, she had a slight change of heart. Though, she didn't want anything to do with them, she had called Alice a week ago to make sure they were okay. I assumed that's when they made the plans for Alice to watch the baby.

"However, I forgot that I picked up an extra shift at the diner. So now, I have three kids at my house that need someone to watch them and I have to be at work in ten minutes."

"Bring them here. We'll be fine." I said, smiling sympathetically to myself.

"Ah! Thank you so much! I'll be right over!" she hung up the phone and before I knew it I heard her little, beaten up car park in my driveway.

I opened the door for them, expecting all hell to break lose. But, surprisingly, they were all calm. Cynthia held a heavy book bag and looked tired, Lucy was sucking her thum, and Alice held a baby carrier that was filled with quiet sighs.

"I know this is really short notice, but they've been fed and just need a place to sleep really."

"Alice, it's okay. Everything will be fine." I held her shoulders and gave her an honest look. She nodded.

"Come on in, guys." I stepped aside to let them in. Cynthia took Lucy's hand and led her to the couch.

"Okay, here's the diaper bag." she handed me a blue and pale yellow bag. "There are four bottles and tons of diapers. There's also one change of clothes and a few blankets." She walked past me and put the carrier on a red chair in the corner. "Lucy is not aloud to sleep with her fooler and if she has an accident in bed she has to stand in the corner for five minutes." she said this in a louder tone, looking at Lucy who straightened up a bit at the sound of this. Alice slyly handed me another, smaller, bag with pink lettters reading _Lucy _on the front. She whispered that her two foolers and a few diapers were in there along with a ton of baby wipes. Also three sippy cups that I could fill with anything that wasn't carbonated. I nodded and she continued, talking too fast.

"Cynthia has Algebra and History homework to do, along with a study guide to complete for her Chemistry test tomorrow. She is not aloud to go to sleep until she has finished all of that and if she tells you that I let her have anything more than milk and juice after seven, she's lying." she smiled at me and I nodded.

"Okay, I'll be leaving now. Be good for Bella, don't give her any trouble." she kissed Cynthia and Lucy on the forehead before turning to me. "Thank you so, so, so, so, so much." she gave me a hug and after that a smile fulled with energy.

"Don't mention it." I said and she smiled again before turning for the door. "I'll be back at two at the absolute latest. Hopefully, before that."

"Okay, we'll be fine." I said as she walked into the darkness. I realized quickly I was missing a crucial detail. "Alice!" I called and she opened the door of her car a bit.

"Yeah?"

"What's the baby's name?"

"Lucas." she said and I smiled at her. She shut her door, drove away, and was soon out of sight.

For the first two hours everything was fine. However, as Lucy digested, here energy shot back up. It was almost eight thirty when she started getting out of control.

"Hey Bella!" she called. I was rocking Lucas in my arms, feeding him a bottle as she got too close to my face.

"Yes?" I asked.

"What's that?" she pointed to a radio in the corner.

"A radio." I said.

"What's it do?" she went over and started pushing buttons. All types of music blasted in sequence. Lucas screamed and Cynthia yelled at her, complaining of a headache.

"Lucy." I went over to her and turned it off. "Don't touch that again."

"I want to color." she ran off behind me and I shook my head, trying to stay calm. I pulled the diaper bag off the chair and got a new bottle out of it.

"Lucy!" Cynthia cried. "Why did you do that?" Lucas kicked, shreieking again and threw the bottle across the room.

"What did she do?" I asked, wlaking over to get the milk filled bottle.

"My study guide! It's ruined!" Now Cynthia was yelling, Lucy was crying, and Lucas was screaming in my arms.

"Bella!" I heard a voice call my name from the opening door. "I have a-" he turned around to see what was going on inside. The look on his face made me smile, he looked terribly confused.

"Edward! Lucy destroyed my study guide for school!" Cynthia yelled at him.

He looked over at me, his eyes smoldering, he wore his crooked smile. I couldn't help but blush as I walked over to the couch.

"Babysitting for Alice." I explained and he nodded, his eyebrows raising slightly.

"What subject is it for?" he asked, going to Cynthia.

"Sciene." she flung the packet at him.

"Well, these lines are scribbles made by a four year old. They're a very complex way of studying vocabulary words. Match a color that reminds you of a word to that word. Then study the word and remember what color it was." Though what he said didn't make much sense at all, Cynthia looked anlightened and got straight to work.

Lucy was crying in the corner of the room and he went over to her. "Oh, Lucy. What's wrong?"

"Cynthia yelled at me." Cynthia rolled her eyes.

"Oh, well, how about we-" he stopped and gasped. "What was that?" she looked confused.

"What's what?" her small hand pushed her hair out of her face.

"That noise." he cupped his hand behind his ear and she did the same. "It sounds like...like..." he looked at her from the corner of his beautiful green eyes. "I know what it is!" he said.

"What? What is it?"

"It's an-" he looked at he small face, jam packed with anticipation. "airplane!" he picked her us, tossing her slightly in the air and she cooed out in joy and happiness.

"Little Lucy airplane coming in for a landing." she laughed and begged for him not to put her down.

"Noooooooo! Higher! Higher!" he tossed her a few times in the air and her voice jerked as she landed in his hands, looking huge in comparison to her small rib cage.

"Landing in ten...nine...eight...seven...six..." as he counted down I notcied how comfortable he was around kids. I guess I'd never been in a position like this before where we've both been around children for more that a few minutes.

"...five...four...three...two...one!" he made a landing sound as he plopped down next to me on the couch, softly enough not to disturb Lucas.

"How was your flight Lucy?" I asked as Edward kissed my cheek and whispered a lingering hello in my ear.

"Fuuuuuuuun!" she laughed as she tipped backwards on the couch, trying to make the same airplane noises as Edward had.

"And who do we have here?" Edward asked quietly, noticing that he was asleep.

"Lucas. He's Alice's cousin." I looked down at his face, seeing how at peace he was in rest. Young, innocent.

"She's speaking wither her aunt again?" he asked, putting his arm around me.

"You could say that." I said, yawning.

"How long have they been here?" he asked me.

"About two hours now, almost three." his eyes widened and I shrugged.

"Well, what can I do to help?" he asked. I looked at Lucy, in a corner with two crayons in a cross shape, flying through the air with sound affects. I looked at Cynthia who was using the other crayons to finish her homework.

"I think you already did." I said, leaning into him.

"Did I?" he asked smugly. I reached my neck up and kissed him.

His lips soft on mine, feeling right and perfect. His cool, sweet breath lingering on my lips as we pulled away. I looked up into his eyes and a crooked smile grew on his face. I smiled, feeling hot blush on my cheeks. He kissed each one of them, cooling the flush, and then pushed my hair out of my face.

"I love you." he whispered in my ear, kissing my neck three times before reaching my collarbone and bringing his head up too look at my eyes.

"I love you too." I said. Letting my head fall on his chest. Hishand ran through my hair and I was alsmot asleep when he spoke again.

"Bella," he said. A hesitating tone in his voice.

"Yes?" I asked, opening my tired eyes. He glanced down then back up at me. "Let me take him for you." he said. I was too tired to let him not. I looked up at his eyes and smiled to myself.

My Edward-amazing, beautiful, perfect.

How could he not come back after the war? Surely he would, no one would ever kill someone as amazing as him.

A sweet, soft, familiar tune drifted into my ears. The lullaby Edward had first written, played, and sung to me in the ninth grade.

I sighed and let myself fall asleep, curled up on his lap.

He'd come back when it's over. There was hardly a need ot say goodbye.

* * *

**Okay, so the next chapter will be a little like this one. I'll probably have a little from this chapter in Edward's perspective then some Alice/Edward banter which is fun to write! Let me know what you think! See you all next Tuesday!**

**Love you all!**

**lots. of. love. **

**PLT!**

~AliceSwift 


	9. Chapter 9: A Nightmare or Something

**Hey guys, here is a new chapter. It's boring at first but at the end it's a little-well, you'll see. **

**lots. of. love. **

**PLT!**

**~AliceSwift **

* * *

_"When you're dreaming with a broken heart _

_Then waking up is the hardest part."_

_-Dreaming With a Broken Heart._

_-John Mayer._

Lucy calmed down shortly after Bella went to sleep. I took her and Cynthia to Bella's room and they slept for awhile. I held Lucas for the rest of the night and let Bella sleep.

She was so perfect it killed me. Her skin, her hair, her eyes. Everything about her was flawless. If I ever did anything to hurt her-so, in other words, if I don't come back after the war-I could never forgive myself.

I didn't realize I had drifted to sleep until I heard a knock on the door. Bella was still asleep, as was Lucas. I stood up to answer the door.

"Hi Alice." I said stepping aside to let her in.

"Hey, how's everything going?" she said, I shut the door quickly behind her and she took Lucas from me.

"Um, fine. Lucy and Cyn are upstairs in Bella's room. They've been asleep for awhile."

"Good." she smiled then glanced at Bella before turning her eyes back on me. "So, have you thought about it?"

"About what?" I mocked. She gave me a look and I smiled. "No, I haven't. Not really at least."

"Well the days are running out. If you want it to be something she'll really remember then you're going to have to go big." she rocked Lucas in her arms.

"I seriously doubt that anyone would forget how they were proposed to." I scoffed as we walked up to Bella's room.

"But still." she was silent for a moment. "What are you thinking about for a ring?"

"I haven't." She was really getting frustrated now.

"Damn it Edward, you have to get going on this if you want to do it before you leave."

I sighed. "You're right." I said as I opened Bella's door.

"So, what do you say?" she asked. "We can go ring shopping tomorrow. I have a few hours between my first and second shift open. We can go to the mall, look around, maybe even pick something out."

"Well, could you do it before your first shift?" she gave me a look like I was crazy. Alice made it clear to everyone that every minute of sleep she got was cherished. "I want to take Bella out, get her used to the idea maybe." I raised my eyebrows and she rolled her eyes. "The things I do for you guys." she shook her head and tapped Cynthia on the shoulder.

She sat up groggily and then woke Lucy up. "Come on guys, time to go home." Alice said softly.

I repacked Lucas' bag and gave it to Alice. We walked downstairs and I held Lucy's hand to make sure she wouldn't trip and fall. Alice took her too when we reached the door. "Do you need help out to the car?" I asked and she gave me a look. "Yeah Edward, I'm the one who needs help." she scoffed and I smiled.

"So, the mall. At six?" she asked and I nodded. "Goodnight then." she walked out and told her goodbye. I turned to see Bella sitting up on the couch.

What if she had heard? "Bella." I said, though she seemed, still, too sleepy to really hear me.

"Edward?" her hand came up to her hair which was knotted. She yawned and stretched and fell back on the couch. I knew her back would hurt in the morning if I didn't help her upstairs.

"Come on," I nodded, grabbing her hand. "Let's get you to bed." she gripped my hand and I pulled her up. She leaned against my chest and I tried to stand her up again. However, she fell and I couldn't help but smile at how sleepy she was. I finally just picked her up and carried her up the stairs.

I laid her in the bed and she curled up with the sheets. Her hair fell in her face and I tucked it behind her ear. The expression on her face twisted at my touch and I smiled. "Goodnight Bella." I whispered and kissed her temple lightly. "I love you." I flipped the light switch off.

"Wait." she said. I turned the light on again and looked at her. "Will you stay with me?" her voice was small.

Of course I wanted to, but I would have to leave early and I wouldn't be able to explain to her why. "I don't know." I said. "I have to meet Alice early."

"You could leave then. Just please, stay with me." she begged. I wasn't sure if it was the sleep coming through in her voice or if she was holding back tears.

"Okay." I flipped the switch on the wall and the room went dark. I climbed into bed with her under the covers. She curled up next to me and I wrapped my arms around her. She fell asleep quickly, as did I.

* * *

I'd always been a light sleeper, so when Bella and I first slept in the same bed together, almost everything she said woke me. However, over the years, I'd learned to ignore it, to roll over and go back to sleep if it woke me at all. So, naturally, when she grabbed onto the back of my shirt and said something, I turned into her, closed my eyes, and tried to go back to sleep.

"No please." she said, a little too clearly. I put my hands on her back and shushed her, trying to comfort her.

"Wait, no. Stop, please." she begged. Her volume grew louder and I was afraid Charlie might come into see what she was screaming about.

"Bella." I opened my eyes and she looked like she was crying.

"Edward!" she replied, though I wasn't sure if she was truly talking to me. Her words were loud and worried, almost pained.

"It's okay." I started but she moaned again. I pushed a few pieces of hair away from here sticky face but her hand slapped mine away. "Stop." she said sharply.

She calmed for only a moment before she yelled again. "Please. Don't go! Edward!" she flinched and screamed. "No, Edward."

I shook her again. "Bella, I'm right here." Her eyes flew open and she looked at me. "I'm here, it's okay." Her hands latched onto my shirt again and she pulled herself close to me. Her tears soaked my shirt as she cried for a moment more before composing herself. She stayed close though, and I ran my fingers threw her hair.

"Edward." she said as she put her hand on my chest, letting it lay there flat. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to go back to sleep.

"Bella, what were you dreaming about?"

"I was dr-" she started. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." she smiled.

"Were you dreaming about-" I tried to ask her if she was dreaming about me leaving but she stopped me.

"Really, Edward. I'm fine, just a nightmare or something I guess. I really can't remember." her dark eyes looked up at me and she started at me. "Truly, I'm not sure what happened."

"You sounded pretty scared. Worried perhaps." she shook her head. "I'm fine. Just go back to sleep, I'm sorry I woke you." she shut here lids again and started to breath deeper. I kissed her head gently before looking over at the clock that hung on her wall. It was about five and I should probably go home soon so I could change and meet Alice, though I couldn't will myself to leave Bella here. After what had just happened, what, I'm sure, she had just dreamt, how could I do that to her? Then again, that's exactly what I would be doing to her in only a little while.

* * *

**Review to let me know what you think. p.s. I'll be updating all my stories in the next few days so look out for that. Okay bye!**

**lots. of. love.**

**PLT!**

**~AliceSwift **


	10. Chapter 10:Telling Me He Loved Me

Alice and I had just left the mall. The jewlry stores we looked in had nice things, I even considered a few. However, none of them were perfect. None of them would make Bella want to say yes to my proposal.

I tried to picture what her face would look like when I presented her with the ring. I tried to imagine what some of them would look like on her finger. But nothing sufficed what I wanted. I suppose that none of them were Bella.

"You've been awful quiet." Alice mentioned as we headed back to my house.

"I guess." I shrugged. It was true. I just couldn't get what had happened last night out of my head. Bella waking up terrified in the middle of her dream. It broke my heart to know that what I had to do hurt her this badly.

"Why?" Alice asked. I almost smiled. Alice was never one to settle for just any answer, and if you continued to lie to her she normally would find out one way or another. Besides, maybe if I told her what had happened she could sympathize with Bella in some way. Judging by how she acted when Jasper found out he had to leave, she probably had similar nightmares.

"It's Bella." I said, I could feel her eyes on me.

"What's wrong? I mean, you guys seemed pretty cozy when I came by to pick up the kids." I knew that she was getting at the fact that Bella and I possibly could've broken up.

"Oh, no it's nothing like _that_." I assured her.

"Then what is it?" We pulled up in my driveway and she parked, pulling her keys out of the ignition.

"You know Bella talks in her sleep." I said turning towards her, she was looking at me.

"I think everyone that's ever seen her sleep knows that she talks in her sleep." she laughed and I smiled.

"Well, last night as usual, she was mumbling but then what she said became very, very clear." I said, I felt my eyes widen, thinking back.

"Yes." Alice pressed. I blinked and looked at her.

"Alice, I think she had a nightmare." I looked at her desperately, hoping she would understand because I didn't think I could say it aloud.

She looked confused for a moment but then nodded, her expression smooth.

"I see." she said.

"How can I do this to her?" I started. "I can't leave, Alice. She looked so pained by whatever was happening in her dream."

"I know it's hard but you both have to be strong." she said and tears were in her eyes. I hoped that me talking to her about this hadn't reminded her of her dreams about Jasper, but then again, who else could I talk to about this. I'd like to talk to Bella, but she probably wouldn't fess up to the truth. There was my mother, of course, but I didn't want to give her night mares. And I didn't really want to get this emotional in front of my father. That left Alice, who I knew would be there to listen.

"What if I died? In her dream, I mean. If it hurt her that bad and she knew that I was really right next to her then what will happen if I really die?" I was going to continue but she stopped me.

"No, Edward. I will not allow you to think that way. That is no attitude to have the week before you leave for war."

"Then what is?" I asked and she was silenced.

She wiped a few tears from her face and sighed. "I don't know." she shrugged and smiled. "But I do know that negativity won't get you anywhere."

"When did you get so smart?" I asked. I'll never forget the day that she came over to Bella's when I was there, sobbing about how Jasper had been drafted. And rightfully so.

"Well, Jasper sends letters, you know that." I nodded. "And he says that in the army you look out for eachother. No matter how much you might dislike a person, or how much you tell yourself that you're miserable. You can't really be. You can be down sometimes but there's always someone there to pick you up. So, in my mind, as long as you make friends, you'll be fine."

I wanted to believe her. I wanted to nod and smile and give her a hug. But I knew that I would be lying. How could everything be fine when there were people out there trying to kill you everyday? Nothing would be fine.

"Alice will you promise me something?" I asked and she looked up.

She nodded. "Of course, Edward." she smiled. "What is it?"

"That when I'm away you'll take care of Bella. I know she had Emmett and Charlie, but Charlie isn't always as kind as you are and Emmett get riled up by things way too easily." she laughed and I smiled.

"Of course, Edward." she nodded.

We said our goodbyes and I walked inside.

I remember waking up, seeing Edward, touching his chest, feeling his heart beat, he was there. But I suppose that then I went back to sleep because then he wasn't.

It was all very confusing. The bombs, the gunshots, the fire. Men ran across the snowy field holding rifles, dressed in green.

"Edward?" I called out. No one turned to look but maybe that's because no one could hear me over the comotion.

It was very cold and I knew that something was wrong. My arms crossed my chest.

"Edward where are you?" I called out louder. I started to cry when someone knocked into me, pushing me onto the ground, my hands and knees now wet.

I looked around when I thought I saw him. I'm not quite sure what convinced me it was him, but that didn't matter because he soon feel to his knees, doubling over.

"Edward!" I ran towards him and, after what seemed ike hours, reached where he was.

He was face down in the snow and unmoving. I turned him over.

The was a wound, a gun shot in his lower abdomen, not a good place to get hit.

I pushed my hand down to try and stop the bleeding. His face wrinkled in pain and I felt terrible.

"Oh god." my hand touched his face though he didn't seem to feel it. His green eyes opened up and looked up at me. I smiled, thinking that he had responded to the call of his name. But when he didn't smile back, I panicked.

"No, please," I begged. I pushed my hand to his now bare chest, trying to feel a thumping pattern which would be his heart beat but nothing was there. Nothing was there to let me know that he was still alive and with me.

"Wake up, please." I yelled. I looked around but no one was there. The once crowded space was now empty. "Someone help!" I called but no one was there. No one was there to help and my guess was that even if there was they wouldn't have cared.

"Edward." I looked back down at him but he was gone. There was nothing but snow beneath my hand.

"Edward." I called out again, but this time I opened my eyes, seeing not a snowy feild but my room. However, Edward wasn't beside me as I had wished he would be.

I tried to calm my breathing, he had probably just left when my dad got home. Still I felt as though I needed to make sure he was okay.

I called him and Esme answered.

"Hello?" she seemed cheery which was a good sign.

"Esme, hi. Is Edward there I need to speak with him."

"Yes, Bella, of course." she held the phone away and I heard he call for him.

It was his voice I heard next. "Bella?" he asked and I nearly cried.

I breathed, not realizing that I hadn't been. "Edward."

"I left your house just a little while ago. You can't tell me you miss me that much already." he sounded like he was smiling. I didn't respond. "Bella are you there?"

"Hm, yes. Um, I just needed to hear your voice that's all." I admitted.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just, can you meet me or something? Somewhere. I just really want to see you."

He sighed. "Bella, I hate to tell you this but Esme and I are going out of town until Monday, we're visiting family that want to see me before I leave."

"Oh," I said, trying not to sound too dissapointed.

"I'll come and say goodbye though."

"Wait, you're leaving now?"

"Yes in a few hours I still need to pack, though."

"Okay, I'll see you before you leave." I said and he agreed, telling me he loved me before he hung up his line.

* * *

**Review please! Thanks for reading:)**

**lots. of. love. **

**PLT!**

**~AliceSwift **


End file.
